An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
Fandom: Glee
Pairing: Blaine Anderson & Sebastian Smythe
Chapter Title: Back to November
Chapter Summary: Blaine has no idea what’s going on and everyone keeps telling him it would be better if his memories returned organically. What happens if he never remembers? What happens if he does remember, but not what people want to hear?
Chapter Note: I'm not making any more notes about chapters. This is taking a big turn. Think of the previous 6 chapters as set-up. And since this is like a separate fic, I eliminated my "only MCU canon before Endgame" rule. I will not tag which show/movie but still...spoilers.
Warnings: Deaths (not by Snap) of canon Glee characters are hinted at but not confirmed
REPOST 2/20/24: I accidently posted the rough draft 🤬
Hello, Blaine. My name is Sebastian. It’s nice to meet you.
He stared at the beautiful man…Sebastian. Something about him felt so familiar. It made him feel safe. “The little girl called me Daddy.”
“Yeah, I wish that didn’t happen.”
“Why?”
Sebastian chuckled and leaned into the door frame. He seemed to drop his guard (slightly) so he did the same. “I’m going to go make sure the kids’ lessons are ready.”
“I thought you said they were going to Kindergarten?”
“That’s what we call it…no, sorry. We were told, at least in the beginning, to let you try to regain your memories slowly, naturally.”
“Regain my memories?” Yes, he'd realized he had almost no memories from before he awoke, but how did Sebastian and whoever gave him that bullshit advice know he didn't?
“Tea or coffee?”
“Tea or coffee?” Was this a test? What if he said the wrong thing? Would it mean he’d have to wait even longer for someone to tell him what the fuck was going on? “Uh…I feel like I should say coffee, but I’d really like a cup of tea, Earl Grey with a little sugar and, this might sound strange, a splash of cinnamon.”
Something he said brought the beautiful smile back to Sebastian’s beautiful face. He must have answered correctly. “It doesn’t sound strange. One Earl Grey with a little sugar and a splash of cinnamon coming right up.”
Once he was alone, he got out of bed to survey his surroundings. The first thing he saw was a pair of glasses on the nightstand. He put them on and yes, these were definitely his.
The room was nice but plain. It felt more like an unoccupied dorm room than a bedroom in a home. White walls, hardwood floors and beige area rugs. No wall art, tchotchkes, or framed photos. The bedding didn’t have patterns, just grey sheets and a dark blue comforter with red trim. There was a full-length mirror in the corner, so he went to take a look. He was older than he anticipated. His hair was ridiculously curly and he was in need of a shave. The dark blue pajama pants he was wearing were unremarkable, but his t-shirt had Dalton printed across the front.
The shirt was the only thing that brought out any sort of recognition. Whatever Dalton turned out to be was irrelevant. To him, Dalton meant home.
Next to tackle was the dresser, but when he opened the top drawer, everything else came to a stop. There was only one item there. The only item since he woke up this morning that he recognized without an ounce of doubt.
The lightsaber Tony Stark made for him.
He climbed back into bed but sat up against the headboard, clutching his find. It was an anchor within the chaos of his situation. This Tony Stark guy was obviously important to him. So, why could he remember the lightsaber but not the man who made it for him?
He closed his eyes and tried to settle his mind.
“I’ve told you a thousand times, you can’t overthink everything.”
The voice embraced him with love, bringing out his first genuine smile of the day. “But I can sure try.”
Two gasps, one his own, had him opening his eyes. The sight of the person in the doorway confused him even more than why he gasped at what was said. “I know you…but I don’t know how.”
The woman plastered on a smile and set up the breakfast tray she’d been carrying. “It’s ok, Sweetie. Sebastian told me you wanted tea. I thought you might want some toast as well. There’s some…”
“Honey butter.” The woman's smile changed to resemble Sebastian’s when he answered the tea question.
Another test passed?
She sat beside him and gently brushed back his hair. It was if she’d been doing it for years. “Are you my mother?”
“Not biologically but over the past 6 years you and I have adopted each other as family. About 4 years ago you started calling me Mom. Maybe that’s what you’re remembering.”
“Maybe, but I don’t think I can do that, call you Mom, right now.”
The woman smiled again, easing their tension even further. “I understand, Sweetie. My name is Carole.”
(A younger) Carole stood next to a man in a baseball cap. The man reached out for a handshake. “Call me Burt, Kid. Kurt talks about you so much…”
“Dad! You said you wouldn’t embarrass me!”
Kurt? His first impression was one of fondness but then he was hit with feelings of animosity. No, animosity wasn’t enough. He might not remember this Kurt guy, but he really, really hated him. The memory troubled him so much he backed away to the other side of the bed, bringing his lightsaber, his only anchor to reality, with him. “How have we accepted each other as family when I hate your son?”
Carole chalked his statement up to his memories coming back in bits and pieces. At least they seemed to be coming back. That was progress. “You remembered Finn?”
“Kurt”
“Oh, that makes a lot more sense. Kurt isn’t my son. He was my stepson.”
He scooted back to his original spot, willing to once again try trusting the woman with the kind smile. “Was?”
“I was married to Kurt’s father until he died 6 years ago in a plane crash. Kurt disappeared at the same time, and we all thought he'd died as well. About a year and a half ago Kurt showed up out of nowhere. When he found out how my life moved forward, he said he would never forgive me. I haven’t heard from him since.”
“Was it because of me? Does he hate me, because I really, really hate him…although I don’t know why.”
“My relationship with you wasn’t the problem. He hated, probably still hates, the man I married and his son.”
“His son?”
“That would be me” Sebastian said from the end of the bed. Next to him was a distinguished-looking gentleman. Both men's eyes were darting back and forth between Carole and the lightsaber. She subtly shook her head as a signal to let it go for the time being.
He pretended he didn’t notice.
The distinguished-looking gentleman ended the awkwardness with his introduction. “And I’m the new husband, Sebastian’s dad, Xavier Smythe.”
Did he say… “Smythe? Your name is Xavier Smythe?”
“Yes. Do you remember me?”
His focus moved from father to son. What he found had him trying to catch his breath. The man from earlier was gone. The person at the end of the bed was a beautiful 16-year-old boy, dressed in a perfectly pressed school uniform.
And when she knows what
She wants from her time
And when she wakes up
And makes up her mind
”Sebastian Smythe.”
”Are you a Freshman?”
Once a Warbler, always a Warbler. Right?
He remembered November 8th, 2011 and November 8th, 2012…as well as every moment they shared in between. He remembered November 9th, 2012…waking up, realizing he’d been in love with Sebastian the entire time and minutes later Kurt telling him he was dead. He remembered every second of pain between that moment and November 8th, 2024…the day he traveled back in time. Everything hadn't returned, only his memories of Sebastian and the aftermath of the accident. It didn't matter. His beautiful boy, now beautiful man, was less than 10 feet in front of him.
“Bas”
Sebastian ran from the room. He was devastated but didn't want the others to know. "Guess I failed that test."
Xavier looked to Carole who told him Go, I’ve got this one. Once he was gone, Carole grabbed hold of his hand not grasping his lightsaber. “I’m so sorry, Sweetie. This must be so confusing. But when I came in and told you to stop overthinking…”
“I said But I can sure try. I don’t know why I said that.”
“Because that’s how my Blaine would always answer. That’s how Sebastian’s Blaine would always answer.”
Her Blaine? Sebastian’s Blaine?
He didn’t know what Carole was trying to say but he didn’t care. Something didn’t feel right. He pushed her away and went as far as he could while remaining in the same room “Get out.”
“Sweetie…”
“I’m not your Sweetie. I want to talk to Bas.”
Carole stood and sighed, a signal of surrender. All the goodwill she'd attempted to build was gone. “I’ll tell Seb, but don’t get your hopes up. There’s a change of clothes in the bathroom if you want a shower.” After she pointed out the proper door, she picked up the long-forgotten breakfast tray. “Please stay here for the time being.”
“You can’t keep me prisoner.”
“I…we’re not trying to. However, there are two small children in the house and all they know is something is going on with someone they love. They’re scared enough.”
With everything that happened between the time the children left his room, he’d forgotten them (couldn’t blame the memory loss for that one). “I’ll stay here…for now.”
“That’s all I ask.”
The shower helped. He didn’t want to say it made him feel like himself again because he didn’t know who the hell he was. More specifically, who these people expected him to be. Carole must have returned while he was in the shower because a new breakfast tray of tea and toast was neatly set up on the table next to the window. Although, this time she'd included some eggs and bacon. He appreciated the gesture. As he sat down to eat, he looked outside (why hadn’t he thought of that sooner?). He didn’t need a rush of memories to know he was at Dalton. But this Dalton wasn’t either of his Daltons.
There was more than one Dalton? Why would he believe that? The only Dalton he remembered was the one where he met Sebastian. He was too hungry to obsess about it now, so he turned his attention back to his breakfast. The food was so good, and he was so mentally fried, he didn’t hear someone enter the room.
”You don’t have face hair anymore. You always have face hair.”
”I shaved.”
“Oh, ok. I got this for you, Uncle Blaine.” Sammy, the little boy…not the dog he still had no answers about, was holding a quart of Stark Raving Mad ice cream. “It always makes you feel better.”
He cocked his eyebrow and tried not to smile. “Makes me feel better, huh? Is there a reason I need two spoons to eat it?” The little boy’s face fell, and his heart shattered into a thousand pieces. “Come here.” Sammy ran into his open arms and quickly settled on his lap. “Thank you, I ate my breakfast but I’m still hungry.”
“Grammy Carole says you’re always hungry” Sammy told him between shoveling spoons full of ice cream into his face. “Uncle Seb said you don’t remember us because you bumped your head. Is he right? You promised you’d never lie to me, but I guess you don’t member that.”
WTF? Blaine shifted the boy in his lap. First, the kid was heavier than he looked. His leg was falling asleep. And second, why had Sebastian told Sammy about his memory loss when Carole basically begged him to stay away from the kid and his sister? “Your Uncle Seb told you I bumped my head and lost my memories?”
“No” the boy admitted “I heard him tell Grampy X. He also said you were the other Blaine now, not his B. I don't know what that means.” That bit of information took him from frustrated to completely horrified. How could Sebastian be so reckless to say this where one of the kids could overhear him? His Bas was an impulsive brat (hello, eye surgery) but the things he did stemmed from being a child (teenagers, no matter what they believe, are children). This Sebastian was a late 20-something year old parent. He should know better!
The ice cream was gone (he might've gotten in 3 bites) and Sammy was beginning to doze off. It gave him an idea. “You heard right, I don’t have my memory and my head still kind of hurts. I was going to take a nap. Do you want to join me?"
Sammy wrapped his arms around Blaine’s neck, making it easier to be carried. Once they were settled, the boy began to wiggle and brought something up from underneath the sheet. “Where did you get this cool lightsaber…or you don’t remember?”
How could he have forgotten his lightsaber? Was he losing new memories every time he remembered something from the past? It wasn’t the time for panic…yet. “I found it in a drawer. Someone named Tony made it for me. I don’t remember him, but I know he loved me and always made me feel safe.”
“Like you love me and said you would do anything to keep me safe...when you remembered me.”
“Hey” He lifted the little boy’s chin, so he had to look at him. “I don’t care if I never remember anything else. I will always remember to make sure you and Susie are safe.”
Any tension in Sammy’s body melted as he snuggled even closer. “Uncle Blaine, I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“For getting scared and thinking the bad space monster would take me away again because you forgot to keep me safe.”
“Take you away?”
“Pepper brought you to Dalton to recover in peace. No one’s looking for Iron Man in bum-fuck Ohio.”
It wasn’t the time for questions. Tony had been through hell. And even though it had been a month, his brain was still dealing with the reality of Infinity Stones and how an alien got ahold of them, snapped his fingers and turned half of all living beings in the universe to dust.
Oh no, no, no. Sammy had been Snapped by Thanos. Blaine rolled to his side and hugged him as tightly as possible. “Never be sorry for being scared. Let’s talk about that…” He didn’t have to finish. The little boy was already sound asleep, clutching the lightsaber.
“What the hell were you thinking?”
*Blaine continued to love and be loved by Sammy...the hyperactive puppy* Me? You gave me the lightsaber and the rest of the technology I needed to do it!”
Tony walked around the basement of the Dalton he built, inspecting the time portal Blaine, Brittany and Bruce (technically Brittany and Bruce) built out of the material he sent. “I trusted Banner. He should've called off the whole thing knowing those substitute PYM Particles were compromised! And Barton?! I thought you were the little brother he never wanted. He and his whole fake SHIELD family loved you!”
“They do…did, whatever. And Bruce told me…ok, he tried. I still don’t get all the timey-whimey shit.”
“Which you should've before you TIME TRAVELED with defective particles! I understand not going back to Hank Pym for help. The guy has a Stark hate-boner so big I’m amazed he fathered a child.”
“Like yours for Steve Rogers?”
“Hold on…fine, point for the Bow-tied Wonder. But seriously, Banner let you use the damaged particles without seeing what Britt or that Princess in Wakanda could come up with? What about Strange? He was keeper of the Time Stone for fuck sake!”
“Then why didn’t the Avengers include them in the Time Heist?”
“Dr. Weirdo, Princess Kitty-Kat and our lovable but ditzy genius were dust at the time.”
“Don’t say it like that. It took forever for Britt to realize constantly singing Dust in the Wind wasn’t appropriate, especially in front of others who were Blipped.”
“Yet another reason I love that girl. And before you say Wong, we also thought he was dust…Snapped. We were wrong but not our fault. He’d snuck back to the Mystical Monastery of the Mountains and gone off-grid. Oh, and …THANOS DESTROYED THE STONES. Since we didn’t have any extra laying in a drawer somewhere, I, the most brilliant man who ever lived, had to solve time travel.”
“Yeah, I’d forgotten most of that. Not because of the memory loss, I think, but because it made my head hurt to listen to you and Bruce, or Bruce and Britt, talk about it.”
“Again…you didn’t understand and yet decided it was a good idea to TIME TRAVEL! I should tell MIT to take back your degree.”
“You’re dead.”
“Heroically departed, yet here I am…Iron Man.”
“Seriously?”
“How about*overdramatic superhero voice* I am...Dream Master and Gate Keeper to all your memories, so don’t piss me off?”
“I hate you.”
“You love me. And hey! What about Wanda? She’s a witch with super-sized magic courtesy of the mind stone. Did any of you supposedly brilliant idiots think of seeing what she could do to help?”
“Uh…after you left…”
“Heroically departed.”
“After you left, Wanda tried to get Vision’s body from the government to give him a funeral.”
“I don’t know if I’m more offended by the fact the government had Vision’s body and I didn’t know, or Elphaba wanted to put billions of dollars worth of Vibranium…”
“No, Wanda wanted to say goodbye with a funeral for the man?...person?...cybernetic being she loved. When she couldn’t get him back, she went a little Coo-coo for Cocoa Puffs.”
“How little?”
“Mind fucked an entire town, a small town, in New Jersey into believing they were characters in old sitcoms. Manifested a new Vision and a couple of kids. After the government caught on and all hell broke loose, she freed everyone, essentially killing her imaginary family. Last anyone saw of her, she flew off, no airplane necessary, to parts unknown with something called The Book of the Damned.”
For the first time ever, Tony Stark was speechless.
*Lengthy amount of (Dream) Time later* “And you questioned why I wanted Britt kept away from all that shit!?!”
“I didn’t question, per se…”
“Liar…and why didn’t Legolas do anything about the Wicked Witch of New Jersey?”
“Wanda told Clint, and Laura, she was going back to Sokovia to help with rebuilding what the Avengers and Ultron…”
“No need to elaborate. I was there…no comments.”
“So...that’s why they didn’t question her going no contact. It’s not their fault the government was stupid and for some reason didn’t bringing in the man who convinced Wanda to turn her back on Ultron, gave his son her dead brother’s name and freed her from your house arrest.”
"I said no comments!”
“I didn’t say a word about how you were responsible for Ultron, but if the title Avengers Dictator fits…”
“My bad. And while I want answers, you dream-summoned me to help you understand what the hell is happening in your pudding brain. That doesn’t mean I’ll stop yelling about the fact you never should have TIME TRAVELED with faulty particles in the first place! I’m gone for one itty-bitty year…”
*Blaine rose from where he’d been sitting the entire time and Sammy (the dog) ran off* “Tony…”
“Ok, ok, I’ll drop it for now but be prepared to be chastised in future dreams.”
“I would expect nothing less from you.”
*Seconds later (because…Dream Time). Tony is now surrounded by all the computers he’d sent to Dalton over the years* “I figured out how badly you all fucked this up without me.”
“Can we postpone the I Told You Sos as well as the yelling?“
“You take the fun out of everything.”*Blaine answered by giving him a middle finger* “See? Was that so difficult?”
*Blaine answered with double middle fingers* “What did you find?”
“The faulty particles sent you to 2011 instead of 2012. Like with Rogers and his trip to finally get laid…”
“Oh, he’d already been laid.”
“...by Peggy Carter. And I’m still angry with you for not sharing your Stucky theories while I was around to use them to my advantage…in a fun way, at least a fun for me way. I would never use information like that against someone, especially after what happened to your platonic apocalypse partner.”
“My what?”
“That Dave guy?”
“Who?”
“Ok, your memory has improved to Swiss Cheese, but one thing at a time. Like I was saying, you went back to 2011 instead of 2012 and physically became that Blaine Anderson. During the Time Heist, we just had to avoid the Battle of New York Avengers.”
“That’s what I expected, hoped, would happen to me. Did you figure out why I physically became 2011 me?”
“No clue.”
“So, you can’t fix it?”
“To send you back to your original timeline? Not a chance. You wanted to be here, so…ta-da!”
“Not helpful.”
“If you want helpful, I can tell you when you are. It’s November 8th, 2024.”
“The day I left?”
“Makes sense. From what I understand, the Centurian lived decades with no memories of his 70 year side trip. Those memories took over when his two timelines intersected. He did eventually wind up with both sets of memories. My highly educated guess is you’ll eventually do the same.”
“I don’t have eventually. Right now, I have a scared little boy to take care of.”
“Yeah, Sammy. Do you realize you haven’t mentioned Sebastian once since you sought my wisdom? When I was alive you wouldn’t shut up about the guy.”
“Fuck you”
“You didn’t get the big Rom-Com reunion you wanted?”
“Not even close.”
“Did you ever consider the fact that for Sebastian, his Blaine essentially died when you woke up this morning? And you? While you saved Sebastian, Bas died November 8th, 2012. Is that something you’re prepared to accept? And what about Sam?”
“Sammy…”
“Not Sammy…Sam.”
I, I will be king
And you, you will be queen
Though nothing will drive them away
We can be Heroes, just for one day
We can be us, just for one day
I, I can remember (I remember)
Standing, by the wall (by the wall)
And the guns shot above our heads
(Over our heads)
And we kissed,
As though nothing could fall
(Nothing could fall)
And the shame was on the other side
Oh we can beat them, for ever and ever
Then we could be Heroes,
Just for one day
“Last night there was a major accident on the highway. A big-rig blew a tire causing the truck to flip over. It smashed into several cars before landing on two. Blaine, Sam was in one of those cars…and, and Sebastian was in the other. They didn’t make it. I’m so sorry.”
"Sammy, the little boy…obviously not the dog, is Sam’s son, isn’t he?"
"Yes"
"But Sam…if I saved him, where is he? Why isn’t he with his son?”
“I can’t tell you what happened. That’s Blaine 2.0 territory. However, when you wake up, you can have some more of Bow’s memories. I can do that much."
“Thanks.”
“Don’t thank me. This is your dream.”
*Next thing Blaine knew he was hugging the man he considered his father. In this Dream State he could actually feel Tony’s arms around him* “I miss you so much.”
“Of course, you do. I’m awesome.” *Tony tightened his hold* “I love you, Blaine Anderson.”
“I love you too, Tony Stark.”
“Good, because I want you to do something for me.”
“Of course, you do. What?”
“Go back to your music.”
“But…”
“What was the first thing you thought of when you remembered Sam? *Blaine tries to move away but Tony won’t let him* “You remembered the two of you singing Heroes. It was good…really good. Not hard rock enough to be my theme song, but I would’ve put it on the list.”
“How do you know that?”
“I’m Dream Master and Gate Keeper to all your memories, Dumb Ass. Now, about you going back to music…”
“Tony…”
“If I didn’t burden you with hiding Brittany…”
“She wasn’t a burden.”
“Then hiding all my extra toys in the basement at Dalton…”
“That was a burden, a little one. But only when you came to Ohio and (air quotes) played science with my home. It would take days to get Saturday back to working correctly after you left.”
“I always thought if I didn’t uproot your life, you would’ve eventually found your way back to music. You were too good not to.”
“Tony…”
“Bow, just this one time, don’t overthink this and promise me you’ll try.”
*Sigh* “For you? I promise to try.”
Blaine felt movement next to him. It was enough to end his dream but not enough for him to move out of the comfort cocoon he was wrapped in. That was until he heard…
Come on, Big Guy. Time to go.
“Says who?” Blaine asked a startled Sebastian.
“Sammy shouldn’t be here.”
“And you shouldn’t have talked to your father about me without making sure you were alone.” He didn’t regret what he said, but maybe he didn’t have to say it like that.
“He overheard Dad and I…?” Sebastian didn’t need a verbal response. He’d seen that expression thousands of times. “Do you know how much he heard?”
“Enough to come to the conclusion my forgetting him meant the bad space monster was going to take him away again.” He motioned for not-his-Bas to go around to the other side of the bed and join them. Sebastian took the hint and laid down next to the sleeping boy, brushing his hair aside much like Carole had done with him earlier.
It finally dawned on him how much the other man loved this boy and had just been trying to protect him. “I’m sorry.”
“For what?” Sebastian asked, surprised by the apology.
“That I failed your test. That I’m not who you wanted me to be.”
If Sebastian was surprised before, he was now in full-on shock. “How do you know?”
“You didn’t hide it very well. That, and while I was sleeping, I came to a couple of realizations, like how you lost your husband.” He held up his left hand to show him rubbing the underside of his ring finger with his thumb. “I can’t stop doing this. It’s a muscle memory I have no control over. Susie said something about having a Daddy and a Papa, but this…” he held up his hand again “this is a habit developed over a long period of time.”
“B’s ring belonged to my grandfather. It was always a little big but with everything going on the past few years, getting it resized wasn’t happening. When we finally found someone to do it, B said no, the ring’s perfect the way it is. And you didn’t fail. We knew this would happen. I just hoped…”
Huh? We knew? “How? How the fuck…” Sebastian glared at him until he realized “Oh sh…cra…darn? Guess I need to learn to watch my language.”
“We have a curse jar. You don’t put money in because money doesn’t have any real value right now. The jar has pieces of paper with monthly jobs no one wants to do on them. B usually takes out 10 at the beginning of the month so he can space things out.”
He chuckled quietly, not wanting to wake up Sammy. Obviously, he and the other Blaine would have similarities since they were technically the same person. He never considered his swearing habit would be one of them. “He, your B, has or had…”
“A potty mouth? Yes, but it did get better after Susie’s first word was fuck.”
That was all it took for him to lose it. Whatever came out was somewhere between a laugh and a sob, the problem was it was loud. Sammy smiled waking to see the men he called Uncle on either side of him, until seconds later when sheer panic overtook the boy.
On the other side of the room, sparks had appeared out of nowhere. Fortunately, he remembered what this meant, but how to explain it to a traumatized child was a different story. “Sebastian, how did everyone Tha…the bad space monster took away come back?” he asked, hoping it was at least close to the version he knew. “The Sammy version.”
“Um…Avengers broke the space monster’s curse and everyone just reappeared. No one knows how.”
“What did the Avengers do next?”
“Uh…a big battle with the space monster. They think they’re going to lose when a bunch of people joined them…”
“Awesome! Sammy, I know people who were there when the Avengers fought the space monster. Everyone who joined them? They got there through a magic portal just like that one. Only heroes can go through them.” He tousled the less-scared little boy’s hair before getting out of bed and putting himself between Sebastian and Sammy, and whoever (or whatever) stepped out of the portal.
Not that he was going to stop a magical being or anything, but it felt like the right thing to do.
Any doubt was quashed when their visitor arrived. “Wong? What are you doing here? Wait, how did you get here? The Sorcerer Supreme is a master of time. Yes, I time traveled here but Sebastian and Sammy didn’t. Oh my God! Are we in an alternate universe?” He’s so excited his voice kept getting higher and faster. “I think I finally understand some that timey-whimey shit…stuff Tony, Bruce and Brittany yapped on and on about.”
“Brittany? You said you didn’t know my Mommy.”
He turned so fast he almost knocked himself over. “Brittany is your mommy?” For some reason what Sammy said both made perfect sense and blew his mind. Sadly, this had to wait. “Wong?”
“Sorry to burst your bubble, but you’re not even close. I thought you were some sort of genius like Stark since he sent you to MIT and then kept all his Iron Man stuff in your basement.”
“You went to MIT?”
He motioned to Sebastian he’d answer the question later. Maybe he should get the others to leave. No, a little late for that. “Wong, just tell me.”
“When I first met you, your Temporal Aura was off, more like wrong, but I was a little busy. Do you know why?”
“Testing me?"
"Yes"
Considering the man could turn him into a frog, he determined it wasn't time for snark. Sammy didn't need to see that. "The first time I met you, you and Pepper brought Morgan to me before the battle at the Avengers Compound.”
“Ok, just checking, you never know with time travel. At Stark’s funeral I pointed your Aura out to Strange and he agreed with me. You were on the wrong timeline.”
“The what now?”
“The wrong timeline. People don’t stay on the wrong timeline. Those things get taken care of.”
“Taken care of?” Well, that didn’t sound good.
“Let’s just say there are more beings affecting time than those possessing an Infinity Time Stone. Lasting almost 30 years in the wrong timeline only to return to the correct one without assistance from any form of timekeeper doesn’t happen…until you. It’s fascinating.”
“Fantastic isn’t the word I would use.” This conversation was getting more confusing (and terrifying) by the minute. “So, what does all of this mean? And please no timey/whimey or magicity/smagickity explanations?”
“It means I need to have a discussion with Strange but I can’t find him. He’s off universe. It’s so frustrating.” Wong waved his arms and another portal began to open. “Maybe you can help. What’s the name of Stark’s other lost boy?”
“Huh? Oh, you mean Spider-Man?”
“I know that. What’s his real name? His identity?”
“I don’t know. He wanted it to remain secret, unlike his mentor.”
“Someone must know.”
“Pepper?”
“None of Team Iron Man. Maybe this has something to do with why I can’t find Strange. Do me a favor…no more time jumping until I get this figured out.”
“I won’t know how.”
Once he was sure Wong was gone, he turned back around. Sammy was bouncing with excitement. Sebastian…have you ever heard the expression If looks could kill? Neither was a good thing. Like his other self, he should probably get a head start on the curse jar because…FUCK!!!!!
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
Fandom: Glee
Pairing: Blaine Anderson & Sebastian Smythe
Chapter Title: Back to November
Chapter Summary: Blaine has no idea what’s going on and everyone keeps telling him it would be better if his memories returned organically. What happens if he never remembers? What happens if he does remember, but not what people want to hear?
Chapter Note: I'm not making any more notes about chapters. This is taking a big turn. Think of the previous 6 chapters as set-up. And since this is like a separate fic, I eliminated my "only MCU canon before Endgame" rule. I will not tag which show/movie but still...spoilers.
Warnings: Deaths (not by Snap) of canon Glee characters are hinted at but not confirmed
REPOST 2/20/24: I accidently posted the rough draft 🤬
Hello, Blaine. My name is Sebastian. It’s nice to meet you.
He stared at the beautiful man…Sebastian. Something about him felt so familiar. It made him feel safe. “The little girl called me Daddy.”
“Yeah, I wish that didn’t happen.”
“Why?”
Sebastian chuckled and leaned into the door frame. He seemed to drop his guard (slightly) so he did the same. “I’m going to go make sure the kids’ lessons are ready.”
“I thought you said they were going to Kindergarten?”
“That’s what we call it…no, sorry. We were told, at least in the beginning, to let you try to regain your memories slowly, naturally.”
“Regain my memories?” Yes, he'd realized he had almost no memories from before he awoke, but how did Sebastian and whoever gave him that bullshit advice know he didn't?
“Tea or coffee?”
“Tea or coffee?” Was this a test? What if he said the wrong thing? Would it mean he’d have to wait even longer for someone to tell him what the fuck was going on? “Uh…I feel like I should say coffee, but I’d really like a cup of tea, Earl Grey with a little sugar and, this might sound strange, a splash of cinnamon.”
Something he said brought the beautiful smile back to Sebastian’s beautiful face. He must have answered correctly. “It doesn’t sound strange. One Earl Grey with a little sugar and a splash of cinnamon coming right up.”
Once he was alone, he got out of bed to survey his surroundings. The first thing he saw was a pair of glasses on the nightstand. He put them on and yes, these were definitely his.
The room was nice but plain. It felt more like an unoccupied dorm room than a bedroom in a home. White walls, hardwood floors and beige area rugs. No wall art, tchotchkes, or framed photos. The bedding didn’t have patterns, just grey sheets and a dark blue comforter with red trim. There was a full-length mirror in the corner, so he went to take a look. He was older than he anticipated. His hair was ridiculously curly and he was in need of a shave. The dark blue pajama pants he was wearing were unremarkable, but his t-shirt had Dalton printed across the front.
The shirt was the only thing that brought out any sort of recognition. Whatever Dalton turned out to be was irrelevant. To him, Dalton meant home.
Next to tackle was the dresser, but when he opened the top drawer, everything else came to a stop. There was only one item there. The only item since he woke up this morning that he recognized without an ounce of doubt.
The lightsaber Tony Stark made for him.
He climbed back into bed but sat up against the headboard, clutching his find. It was an anchor within the chaos of his situation. This Tony Stark guy was obviously important to him. So, why could he remember the lightsaber but not the man who made it for him?
He closed his eyes and tried to settle his mind.
“I’ve told you a thousand times, you can’t overthink everything.”
The voice embraced him with love, bringing out his first genuine smile of the day. “But I can sure try.”
Two gasps, one his own, had him opening his eyes. The sight of the person in the doorway confused him even more than why he gasped at what was said. “I know you…but I don’t know how.”
The woman plastered on a smile and set up the breakfast tray she’d been carrying. “It’s ok, Sweetie. Sebastian told me you wanted tea. I thought you might want some toast as well. There’s some…”
“Honey butter.” The woman's smile changed to resemble Sebastian’s when he answered the tea question.
Another test passed?
She sat beside him and gently brushed back his hair. It was if she’d been doing it for years. “Are you my mother?”
“Not biologically but over the past 6 years you and I have adopted each other as family. About 4 years ago you started calling me Mom. Maybe that’s what you’re remembering.”
“Maybe, but I don’t think I can do that, call you Mom, right now.”
The woman smiled again, easing their tension even further. “I understand, Sweetie. My name is Carole.”
(A younger) Carole stood next to a man in a baseball cap. The man reached out for a handshake. “Call me Burt, Kid. Kurt talks about you so much…”
“Dad! You said you wouldn’t embarrass me!”
Kurt? His first impression was one of fondness but then he was hit with feelings of animosity. No, animosity wasn’t enough. He might not remember this Kurt guy, but he really, really hated him. The memory troubled him so much he backed away to the other side of the bed, bringing his lightsaber, his only anchor to reality, with him. “How have we accepted each other as family when I hate your son?”
Carole chalked his statement up to his memories coming back in bits and pieces. At least they seemed to be coming back. That was progress. “You remembered Finn?”
“Kurt”
“Oh, that makes a lot more sense. Kurt isn’t my son. He was my stepson.”
He scooted back to his original spot, willing to once again try trusting the woman with the kind smile. “Was?”
“I was married to Kurt’s father until he died 6 years ago in a plane crash. Kurt disappeared at the same time, and we all thought he'd died as well. About a year and a half ago Kurt showed up out of nowhere. When he found out how my life moved forward, he said he would never forgive me. I haven’t heard from him since.”
“Was it because of me? Does he hate me, because I really, really hate him…although I don’t know why.”
“My relationship with you wasn’t the problem. He hated, probably still hates, the man I married and his son.”
“His son?”
“That would be me” Sebastian said from the end of the bed. Next to him was a distinguished-looking gentleman. Both men's eyes were darting back and forth between Carole and the lightsaber. She subtly shook her head as a signal to let it go for the time being.
He pretended he didn’t notice.
The distinguished-looking gentleman ended the awkwardness with his introduction. “And I’m the new husband, Sebastian’s dad, Xavier Smythe.”
Did he say… “Smythe? Your name is Xavier Smythe?”
“Yes. Do you remember me?”
His focus moved from father to son. What he found had him trying to catch his breath. The man from earlier was gone. The person at the end of the bed was a beautiful 16-year-old boy, dressed in a perfectly pressed school uniform.
And when she knows what
She wants from her time
And when she wakes up
And makes up her mind
”Sebastian Smythe.”
”Are you a Freshman?”
Once a Warbler, always a Warbler. Right?
He remembered November 8th, 2011 and November 8th, 2012…as well as every moment they shared in between. He remembered November 9th, 2012…waking up, realizing he’d been in love with Sebastian the entire time and minutes later Kurt telling him he was dead. He remembered every second of pain between that moment and November 8th, 2024…the day he traveled back in time. Everything hadn't returned, only his memories of Sebastian and the aftermath of the accident. It didn't matter. His beautiful boy, now beautiful man, was less than 10 feet in front of him.
“Bas”
Sebastian ran from the room. He was devastated but didn't want the others to know. "Guess I failed that test."
Xavier looked to Carole who told him Go, I’ve got this one. Once he was gone, Carole grabbed hold of his hand not grasping his lightsaber. “I’m so sorry, Sweetie. This must be so confusing. But when I came in and told you to stop overthinking…”
“I said But I can sure try. I don’t know why I said that.”
“Because that’s how my Blaine would always answer. That’s how Sebastian’s Blaine would always answer.”
Her Blaine? Sebastian’s Blaine?
He didn’t know what Carole was trying to say but he didn’t care. Something didn’t feel right. He pushed her away and went as far as he could while remaining in the same room “Get out.”
“Sweetie…”
“I’m not your Sweetie. I want to talk to Bas.”
Carole stood and sighed, a signal of surrender. All the goodwill she'd attempted to build was gone. “I’ll tell Seb, but don’t get your hopes up. There’s a change of clothes in the bathroom if you want a shower.” After she pointed out the proper door, she picked up the long-forgotten breakfast tray. “Please stay here for the time being.”
“You can’t keep me prisoner.”
“I…we’re not trying to. However, there are two small children in the house and all they know is something is going on with someone they love. They’re scared enough.”
With everything that happened between the time the children left his room, he’d forgotten them (couldn’t blame the memory loss for that one). “I’ll stay here…for now.”
“That’s all I ask.”
The shower helped. He didn’t want to say it made him feel like himself again because he didn’t know who the hell he was. More specifically, who these people expected him to be. Carole must have returned while he was in the shower because a new breakfast tray of tea and toast was neatly set up on the table next to the window. Although, this time she'd included some eggs and bacon. He appreciated the gesture. As he sat down to eat, he looked outside (why hadn’t he thought of that sooner?). He didn’t need a rush of memories to know he was at Dalton. But this Dalton wasn’t either of his Daltons.
There was more than one Dalton? Why would he believe that? The only Dalton he remembered was the one where he met Sebastian. He was too hungry to obsess about it now, so he turned his attention back to his breakfast. The food was so good, and he was so mentally fried, he didn’t hear someone enter the room.
”You don’t have face hair anymore. You always have face hair.”
”I shaved.”
“Oh, ok. I got this for you, Uncle Blaine.” Sammy, the little boy…not the dog he still had no answers about, was holding a quart of Stark Raving Mad ice cream. “It always makes you feel better.”
He cocked his eyebrow and tried not to smile. “Makes me feel better, huh? Is there a reason I need two spoons to eat it?” The little boy’s face fell, and his heart shattered into a thousand pieces. “Come here.” Sammy ran into his open arms and quickly settled on his lap. “Thank you, I ate my breakfast but I’m still hungry.”
“Grammy Carole says you’re always hungry” Sammy told him between shoveling spoons full of ice cream into his face. “Uncle Seb said you don’t remember us because you bumped your head. Is he right? You promised you’d never lie to me, but I guess you don’t member that.”
WTF? Blaine shifted the boy in his lap. First, the kid was heavier than he looked. His leg was falling asleep. And second, why had Sebastian told Sammy about his memory loss when Carole basically begged him to stay away from the kid and his sister? “Your Uncle Seb told you I bumped my head and lost my memories?”
“No” the boy admitted “I heard him tell Grampy X. He also said you were the other Blaine now, not his B. I don't know what that means.” That bit of information took him from frustrated to completely horrified. How could Sebastian be so reckless to say this where one of the kids could overhear him? His Bas was an impulsive brat (hello, eye surgery) but the things he did stemmed from being a child (teenagers, no matter what they believe, are children). This Sebastian was a late 20-something year old parent. He should know better!
The ice cream was gone (he might've gotten in 3 bites) and Sammy was beginning to doze off. It gave him an idea. “You heard right, I don’t have my memory and my head still kind of hurts. I was going to take a nap. Do you want to join me?"
Sammy wrapped his arms around Blaine’s neck, making it easier to be carried. Once they were settled, the boy began to wiggle and brought something up from underneath the sheet. “Where did you get this cool lightsaber…or you don’t remember?”
How could he have forgotten his lightsaber? Was he losing new memories every time he remembered something from the past? It wasn’t the time for panic…yet. “I found it in a drawer. Someone named Tony made it for me. I don’t remember him, but I know he loved me and always made me feel safe.”
“Like you love me and said you would do anything to keep me safe...when you remembered me.”
“Hey” He lifted the little boy’s chin, so he had to look at him. “I don’t care if I never remember anything else. I will always remember to make sure you and Susie are safe.”
Any tension in Sammy’s body melted as he snuggled even closer. “Uncle Blaine, I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“For getting scared and thinking the bad space monster would take me away again because you forgot to keep me safe.”
“Take you away?”
“Pepper brought you to Dalton to recover in peace. No one’s looking for Iron Man in bum-fuck Ohio.”
It wasn’t the time for questions. Tony had been through hell. And even though it had been a month, his brain was still dealing with the reality of Infinity Stones and how an alien got ahold of them, snapped his fingers and turned half of all living beings in the universe to dust.
Oh no, no, no. Sammy had been Snapped by Thanos. Blaine rolled to his side and hugged him as tightly as possible. “Never be sorry for being scared. Let’s talk about that…” He didn’t have to finish. The little boy was already sound asleep, clutching the lightsaber.
“What the hell were you thinking?”
*Blaine continued to love and be loved by Sammy...the hyperactive puppy* Me? You gave me the lightsaber and the rest of the technology I needed to do it!”
Tony walked around the basement of the Dalton he built, inspecting the time portal Blaine, Brittany and Bruce (technically Brittany and Bruce) built out of the material he sent. “I trusted Banner. He should've called off the whole thing knowing those substitute PYM Particles were compromised! And Barton?! I thought you were the little brother he never wanted. He and his whole fake SHIELD family loved you!”
“They do…did, whatever. And Bruce told me…ok, he tried. I still don’t get all the timey-whimey shit.”
“Which you should've before you TIME TRAVELED with defective particles! I understand not going back to Hank Pym for help. The guy has a Stark hate-boner so big I’m amazed he fathered a child.”
“Like yours for Steve Rogers?”
“Hold on…fine, point for the Bow-tied Wonder. But seriously, Banner let you use the damaged particles without seeing what Britt or that Princess in Wakanda could come up with? What about Strange? He was keeper of the Time Stone for fuck sake!”
“Then why didn’t the Avengers include them in the Time Heist?”
“Dr. Weirdo, Princess Kitty-Kat and our lovable but ditzy genius were dust at the time.”
“Don’t say it like that. It took forever for Britt to realize constantly singing Dust in the Wind wasn’t appropriate, especially in front of others who were Blipped.”
“Yet another reason I love that girl. And before you say Wong, we also thought he was dust…Snapped. We were wrong but not our fault. He’d snuck back to the Mystical Monastery of the Mountains and gone off-grid. Oh, and …THANOS DESTROYED THE STONES. Since we didn’t have any extra laying in a drawer somewhere, I, the most brilliant man who ever lived, had to solve time travel.”
“Yeah, I’d forgotten most of that. Not because of the memory loss, I think, but because it made my head hurt to listen to you and Bruce, or Bruce and Britt, talk about it.”
“Again…you didn’t understand and yet decided it was a good idea to TIME TRAVEL! I should tell MIT to take back your degree.”
“You’re dead.”
“Heroically departed, yet here I am…Iron Man.”
“Seriously?”
“How about*overdramatic superhero voice* I am...Dream Master and Gate Keeper to all your memories, so don’t piss me off?”
“I hate you.”
“You love me. And hey! What about Wanda? She’s a witch with super-sized magic courtesy of the mind stone. Did any of you supposedly brilliant idiots think of seeing what she could do to help?”
“Uh…after you left…”
“Heroically departed.”
“After you left, Wanda tried to get Vision’s body from the government to give him a funeral.”
“I don’t know if I’m more offended by the fact the government had Vision’s body and I didn’t know, or Elphaba wanted to put billions of dollars worth of Vibranium…”
“No, Wanda wanted to say goodbye with a funeral for the man?...person?...cybernetic being she loved. When she couldn’t get him back, she went a little Coo-coo for Cocoa Puffs.”
“How little?”
“Mind fucked an entire town, a small town, in New Jersey into believing they were characters in old sitcoms. Manifested a new Vision and a couple of kids. After the government caught on and all hell broke loose, she freed everyone, essentially killing her imaginary family. Last anyone saw of her, she flew off, no airplane necessary, to parts unknown with something called The Book of the Damned.”
For the first time ever, Tony Stark was speechless.
*Lengthy amount of (Dream) Time later* “And you questioned why I wanted Britt kept away from all that shit!?!”
“I didn’t question, per se…”
“Liar…and why didn’t Legolas do anything about the Wicked Witch of New Jersey?”
“Wanda told Clint, and Laura, she was going back to Sokovia to help with rebuilding what the Avengers and Ultron…”
“No need to elaborate. I was there…no comments.”
“So...that’s why they didn’t question her going no contact. It’s not their fault the government was stupid and for some reason didn’t bringing in the man who convinced Wanda to turn her back on Ultron, gave his son her dead brother’s name and freed her from your house arrest.”
"I said no comments!”
“I didn’t say a word about how you were responsible for Ultron, but if the title Avengers Dictator fits…”
“My bad. And while I want answers, you dream-summoned me to help you understand what the hell is happening in your pudding brain. That doesn’t mean I’ll stop yelling about the fact you never should have TIME TRAVELED with faulty particles in the first place! I’m gone for one itty-bitty year…”
*Blaine rose from where he’d been sitting the entire time and Sammy (the dog) ran off* “Tony…”
“Ok, ok, I’ll drop it for now but be prepared to be chastised in future dreams.”
“I would expect nothing less from you.”
*Seconds later (because…Dream Time). Tony is now surrounded by all the computers he’d sent to Dalton over the years* “I figured out how badly you all fucked this up without me.”
“Can we postpone the I Told You Sos as well as the yelling?“
“You take the fun out of everything.”*Blaine answered by giving him a middle finger* “See? Was that so difficult?”
*Blaine answered with double middle fingers* “What did you find?”
“The faulty particles sent you to 2011 instead of 2012. Like with Rogers and his trip to finally get laid…”
“Oh, he’d already been laid.”
“...by Peggy Carter. And I’m still angry with you for not sharing your Stucky theories while I was around to use them to my advantage…in a fun way, at least a fun for me way. I would never use information like that against someone, especially after what happened to your platonic apocalypse partner.”
“My what?”
“That Dave guy?”
“Who?”
“Ok, your memory has improved to Swiss Cheese, but one thing at a time. Like I was saying, you went back to 2011 instead of 2012 and physically became that Blaine Anderson. During the Time Heist, we just had to avoid the Battle of New York Avengers.”
“That’s what I expected, hoped, would happen to me. Did you figure out why I physically became 2011 me?”
“No clue.”
“So, you can’t fix it?”
“To send you back to your original timeline? Not a chance. You wanted to be here, so…ta-da!”
“Not helpful.”
“If you want helpful, I can tell you when you are. It’s November 8th, 2024.”
“The day I left?”
“Makes sense. From what I understand, the Centurian lived decades with no memories of his 70 year side trip. Those memories took over when his two timelines intersected. He did eventually wind up with both sets of memories. My highly educated guess is you’ll eventually do the same.”
“I don’t have eventually. Right now, I have a scared little boy to take care of.”
“Yeah, Sammy. Do you realize you haven’t mentioned Sebastian once since you sought my wisdom? When I was alive you wouldn’t shut up about the guy.”
“Fuck you”
“You didn’t get the big Rom-Com reunion you wanted?”
“Not even close.”
“Did you ever consider the fact that for Sebastian, his Blaine essentially died when you woke up this morning? And you? While you saved Sebastian, Bas died November 8th, 2012. Is that something you’re prepared to accept? And what about Sam?”
“Sammy…”
“Not Sammy…Sam.”
I, I will be king
And you, you will be queen
Though nothing will drive them away
We can be Heroes, just for one day
We can be us, just for one day
I, I can remember (I remember)
Standing, by the wall (by the wall)
And the guns shot above our heads
(Over our heads)
And we kissed,
As though nothing could fall
(Nothing could fall)
And the shame was on the other side
Oh we can beat them, for ever and ever
Then we could be Heroes,
Just for one day
“Last night there was a major accident on the highway. A big-rig blew a tire causing the truck to flip over. It smashed into several cars before landing on two. Blaine, Sam was in one of those cars…and, and Sebastian was in the other. They didn’t make it. I’m so sorry.”
"Sammy, the little boy…obviously not the dog, is Sam’s son, isn’t he?"
"Yes"
"But Sam…if I saved him, where is he? Why isn’t he with his son?”
“I can’t tell you what happened. That’s Blaine 2.0 territory. However, when you wake up, you can have some more of Bow’s memories. I can do that much."
“Thanks.”
“Don’t thank me. This is your dream.”
*Next thing Blaine knew he was hugging the man he considered his father. In this Dream State he could actually feel Tony’s arms around him* “I miss you so much.”
“Of course, you do. I’m awesome.” *Tony tightened his hold* “I love you, Blaine Anderson.”
“I love you too, Tony Stark.”
“Good, because I want you to do something for me.”
“Of course, you do. What?”
“Go back to your music.”
“But…”
“What was the first thing you thought of when you remembered Sam? *Blaine tries to move away but Tony won’t let him* “You remembered the two of you singing Heroes. It was good…really good. Not hard rock enough to be my theme song, but I would’ve put it on the list.”
“How do you know that?”
“I’m Dream Master and Gate Keeper to all your memories, Dumb Ass. Now, about you going back to music…”
“Tony…”
“If I didn’t burden you with hiding Brittany…”
“She wasn’t a burden.”
“Then hiding all my extra toys in the basement at Dalton…”
“That was a burden, a little one. But only when you came to Ohio and (air quotes) played science with my home. It would take days to get Saturday back to working correctly after you left.”
“I always thought if I didn’t uproot your life, you would’ve eventually found your way back to music. You were too good not to.”
“Tony…”
“Bow, just this one time, don’t overthink this and promise me you’ll try.”
*Sigh* “For you? I promise to try.”
Blaine felt movement next to him. It was enough to end his dream but not enough for him to move out of the comfort cocoon he was wrapped in. That was until he heard…
Come on, Big Guy. Time to go.
“Says who?” Blaine asked a startled Sebastian.
“Sammy shouldn’t be here.”
“And you shouldn’t have talked to your father about me without making sure you were alone.” He didn’t regret what he said, but maybe he didn’t have to say it like that.
“He overheard Dad and I…?” Sebastian didn’t need a verbal response. He’d seen that expression thousands of times. “Do you know how much he heard?”
“Enough to come to the conclusion my forgetting him meant the bad space monster was going to take him away again.” He motioned for not-his-Bas to go around to the other side of the bed and join them. Sebastian took the hint and laid down next to the sleeping boy, brushing his hair aside much like Carole had done with him earlier.
It finally dawned on him how much the other man loved this boy and had just been trying to protect him. “I’m sorry.”
“For what?” Sebastian asked, surprised by the apology.
“That I failed your test. That I’m not who you wanted me to be.”
If Sebastian was surprised before, he was now in full-on shock. “How do you know?”
“You didn’t hide it very well. That, and while I was sleeping, I came to a couple of realizations, like how you lost your husband.” He held up his left hand to show him rubbing the underside of his ring finger with his thumb. “I can’t stop doing this. It’s a muscle memory I have no control over. Susie said something about having a Daddy and a Papa, but this…” he held up his hand again “this is a habit developed over a long period of time.”
“B’s ring belonged to my grandfather. It was always a little big but with everything going on the past few years, getting it resized wasn’t happening. When we finally found someone to do it, B said no, the ring’s perfect the way it is. And you didn’t fail. We knew this would happen. I just hoped…”
Huh? We knew? “How? How the fuck…” Sebastian glared at him until he realized “Oh sh…cra…darn? Guess I need to learn to watch my language.”
“We have a curse jar. You don’t put money in because money doesn’t have any real value right now. The jar has pieces of paper with monthly jobs no one wants to do on them. B usually takes out 10 at the beginning of the month so he can space things out.”
He chuckled quietly, not wanting to wake up Sammy. Obviously, he and the other Blaine would have similarities since they were technically the same person. He never considered his swearing habit would be one of them. “He, your B, has or had…”
“A potty mouth? Yes, but it did get better after Susie’s first word was fuck.”
That was all it took for him to lose it. Whatever came out was somewhere between a laugh and a sob, the problem was it was loud. Sammy smiled waking to see the men he called Uncle on either side of him, until seconds later when sheer panic overtook the boy.
On the other side of the room, sparks had appeared out of nowhere. Fortunately, he remembered what this meant, but how to explain it to a traumatized child was a different story. “Sebastian, how did everyone Tha…the bad space monster took away come back?” he asked, hoping it was at least close to the version he knew. “The Sammy version.”
“Um…Avengers broke the space monster’s curse and everyone just reappeared. No one knows how.”
“What did the Avengers do next?”
“Uh…a big battle with the space monster. They think they’re going to lose when a bunch of people joined them…”
“Awesome! Sammy, I know people who were there when the Avengers fought the space monster. Everyone who joined them? They got there through a magic portal just like that one. Only heroes can go through them.” He tousled the less-scared little boy’s hair before getting out of bed and putting himself between Sebastian and Sammy, and whoever (or whatever) stepped out of the portal.
Not that he was going to stop a magical being or anything, but it felt like the right thing to do.
Any doubt was quashed when their visitor arrived. “Wong? What are you doing here? Wait, how did you get here? The Sorcerer Supreme is a master of time. Yes, I time traveled here but Sebastian and Sammy didn’t. Oh my God! Are we in an alternate universe?” He’s so excited his voice kept getting higher and faster. “I think I finally understand some that timey-whimey shit…stuff Tony, Bruce and Brittany yapped on and on about.”
“Brittany? You said you didn’t know my Mommy.”
He turned so fast he almost knocked himself over. “Brittany is your mommy?” For some reason what Sammy said both made perfect sense and blew his mind. Sadly, this had to wait. “Wong?”
“Sorry to burst your bubble, but you’re not even close. I thought you were some sort of genius like Stark since he sent you to MIT and then kept all his Iron Man stuff in your basement.”
“You went to MIT?”
He motioned to Sebastian he’d answer the question later. Maybe he should get the others to leave. No, a little late for that. “Wong, just tell me.”
“When I first met you, your Temporal Aura was off, more like wrong, but I was a little busy. Do you know why?”
“Testing me?"
"Yes"
Considering the man could turn him into a frog, he determined it wasn't time for snark. Sammy didn't need to see that. "The first time I met you, you and Pepper brought Morgan to me before the battle at the Avengers Compound.”
“Ok, just checking, you never know with time travel. At Stark’s funeral I pointed your Aura out to Strange and he agreed with me. You were on the wrong timeline.”
“The what now?”
“The wrong timeline. People don’t stay on the wrong timeline. Those things get taken care of.”
“Taken care of?” Well, that didn’t sound good.
“Let’s just say there are more beings affecting time than those possessing an Infinity Time Stone. Lasting almost 30 years in the wrong timeline only to return to the correct one without assistance from any form of timekeeper doesn’t happen…until you. It’s fascinating.”
“Fantastic isn’t the word I would use.” This conversation was getting more confusing (and terrifying) by the minute. “So, what does all of this mean? And please no timey/whimey or magicity/smagickity explanations?”
“It means I need to have a discussion with Strange but I can’t find him. He’s off universe. It’s so frustrating.” Wong waved his arms and another portal began to open. “Maybe you can help. What’s the name of Stark’s other lost boy?”
“Huh? Oh, you mean Spider-Man?”
“I know that. What’s his real name? His identity?”
“I don’t know. He wanted it to remain secret, unlike his mentor.”
“Someone must know.”
“Pepper?”
“None of Team Iron Man. Maybe this has something to do with why I can’t find Strange. Do me a favor…no more time jumping until I get this figured out.”
“I won’t know how.”
Once he was sure Wong was gone, he turned back around. Sammy was bouncing with excitement. Sebastian…have you ever heard the expression If looks could kill? Neither was a good thing. Like his other self, he should probably get a head start on the curse jar because…FUCK!!!!!
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
Fandom: Glee
Pairing: Blaine Anderson & Sebastian Smythe
Summary: After 3 years with Sebastian, Blaine still doesn’t understand why his boyfriend never says “I love you”.
Warnings: I often tag "Kurt Unfriendly" but this one is above and beyond.
Seblainintines 2024/ Love Language
But Kurt…Sorry, no, I’m not. Tracy’s excited about going out for fancy tea with you. We got her a new dress because she wanted to look pretty…Of course, Gregory scheduled a surprise Valentine’s Day brunch. He knows Saturdays are the only day you seem to fit our daughter into your schedule…You’re in the ensemble not Jean Valjean. And no one rehearses that much when the show’s been running for 6 months. Hello! I was the lead in Moulin Rogue before my album blew up…Oh my God! I’m not rubbing it in your face…Seriously? What are you going to do when I go on tour in 3 months…What do you mean, what do I mean? We have joint custody. I had my management schedule the entire tour around when the custody arrangement states she lives with you…No! You can’t pawn her off on your dad and Carole…Because she’s, you know what? Because I say so and you’d have to have my written permission to do it. And that means Rachel and Jesse as well...Oh, I know Gregory won’t be happy. He’s said several times he plans to remain child-free and not-so-subtly insinuated that included stepchildren. And if he’s said it to me, he’s said it to you…Get over yourself! Sebastian adores Tracy and she adores him…I’m not trying to be fair…Why? Because of you, I’m the one forced to break our daughter’s heart! Again!
Blaine threw his phone across the room and instantly regretted it when he heard the glass shatter.
“What did Gay…Kurt do this time?” Sebastian picked up the phone and shook his head. “Looks like we’re going phone shopping for Valentine’s Day.”
“Great” Blaine mumbled under his breath as his boyfriend climbed into the bed beside him. “And if you want to call Kurt Gayface, be my guest. Just not in front of Tracy.”
“Wow! Best day before Valentine’s Day gift ever!”
The bed lamp was turned off and the couple instinctively settled into their big spoon/little spoon positions. Early on, Sebastian figured out that after dealing with his ex, Blaine needed to be cuddled as he spent the next 2 hours overanalyzing why he ever forgave Kurt when he swore not to and then tried to figure out how he was going to fix this mess for Tracy.
What Sebastian didn’t know was Blaine was actually overanalyzing their relationship. Kurt said some awful things about Sebastian during their call. He still saw his former high school nemesis as the boy who tried to ruin their relationship and finally succeeded as a man. It wasn’t true. They’d been divorced for 4 years when Sebastian sheepishly knocked on his dressing room door, holding a dozen white roses.
Um, hi. You were amazing. You’re always amazing. I’ve seen the show 5 times…Oh, these are for you.
Sebastian? How did you get back here? (at least it was better than “Are you a freshman?”)
Bernie, the Usher. I told him we went to Dalton together, so he offered to bring me back each time. I brought the roses this time so I wouldn’t chicken out again.
Why are you so nervous?
Because you’re you and I’m me.
There’s a café, Dottie’s, a few blocks from here. I’m always starving after a show. Would you join me?
That was three Valentine’s Days ago. After their reunion, on nights he had a performance, Sebastian would be waiting at the stage door to walk him home. No grand gestures, they would just talk about their day. Yes, they could have done the same thing with a call, or a text, but that wasn’t the point. It was about getting to know each other as the men they’d become.
Two weeks later, Blaine introduced his (not quite yet) boyfriend to his daughter. They hit it off right away. The problem was his the 2 (almost 3) year-old little girl inherited her mother’s lack of a verbal filter and inability to keep a secret. This meant her other father had to be told at the same time. As expected, it didn’t go well.
But then he realized he didn’t really care what Kurt Hummel thought. For the first time since his sophomore year of high school, he was free.
Yes, his revelation was pathetic considering he’d been divorced 4 years.
Six months later, Sebastian moved into his apartment. He loved the man and was sure Sebastian loved him. The problem was, in all the time they’d been together, neither of them had said the words I love you. After the implosion of his marriage, he swore if he fell in love again, he wouldn’t say it first. It might be superstitious, but he’d said it first last time and it was a disaster. No matter how ridiculous it sounded, he didn’t want anything to jinx what he and Sebastian were building together.
The next thing Blaine knew he was opening his eyes as sunlight streamed in from the window. He slept? How did that happen? He was usually awake for hours after dealing with Kurt. Wait…Where’s Sebastian? He was never out of bed before 9AM on a Saturday.
As he sat up, the bedroom door practically flew open. Tracy was standing there in the dress they’d bought for her Father/Daughter date with Kurt. Her hair was perfectly braided, and she had her shoes and socks on. That last part was the most surprising. His daughter had the same aversion to socks he had.
“Daddy, look what Sebby got me!” His 6 (almost 7) year old ran to the bed and showed him her bouquet of pink roses. “Sebby says pink roses are for Princesses and since he calls me Princess, I got pink roses of Vallytine’s Day.”
Blaine went to correct her pronunciation but decided it could wait for next year. It was bad enough he had to tell her Kurt wasn’t taking her on their date. “Trace…”
“There’s more. Don’t get up.”
She ran out of the room with the same energy as she entered. It finally dawned on him that while Tracy could dress herself, there was no way she could braid her hair. Did Kurt man up and decide not to break his daughter’s heart? It would explain Sebastian’s absence. If his ex showed up to their apartment, Sebastian never let him out of his sight.
“Um, hi. You were amazing. You’re always amazing. I saw your show 37 times…Oh, these are for you.”
This time it was Sebastian in the bedroom doorway, dressed in the suit he wore 3 years earlier, carrying a dozen white roses. “At least this time I know how you got in” Blaine replied as his boyfriend sat on the bed and handed him the roses.
“I was so nervous. It was the fourth most nervous I’d ever been.”
Fourth? That was a weird statement but right now he had other questions in need of answers. “Where’s Kurt?”
“Who cares?”
Huh? “But Trace’s braids and shoes and socks?
“I did those.”
Double huh? “When did you learn to braid hair?”
“They’re French braids. I learned to do them when I lived in Paris for Marie and Sophie.”
He had forgotten about Sebastian’s younger cousins. They would have been around Tracy’s age when he lived in Paris. This explained so much. “Why haven’t you braided Trace’s hair before?”
“Because you insist she doesn’t hide her curls like you used to.”
Oh, yeah. “I’m sorry. I promise if she wants her hair braided, you’re the guy for the job.” Blaine leaned in and kissed the man he loved then remembered… “I better go break Trace’s heart before she starts to figure out Kurt’s not coming.”
“I took care of it.”
Uh-oh “What do you mean I took care of it?”
“You were so exhausted from your argument with Gayface you fell asleep almost immediately. I knew that meant…one, you didn’t have time to concoct a plan. And two, you wouldn’t have time to call your partner in crime fighting this morning. So, I called Sam instead.”
“You called Sam?”
“Yeah, he was really helpful. But you might want to talk to him later. He said something about making Hummel pay for skipping out on his Goddaughter. And I’m man enough to admit he scared me a little.”
Blaine was shocked, worried and intrigued all at the same time. “What did you and Sam come up with? For Trace. I’ll deal with the Kurt part later.”
“I said her Dad called last night and was so, so sorry but his director called a mandatory rehearsal this morning because so many people messed up last night, but not him, of course.”
“Of course.”
“Then I said he asked me very nicely to make sure her day was extra special because she’s extra special and he didn’t want her to be sad.”
“My daughter, Tracy Barbra Hummel-Anderson didn’t question the fact her Dad asked you, Sebastian Smythe, his archenemy, for a favor? Excuse me, asked you very nicely for a favor? I thought was she smarter than that.” When his boyfriend didn’t laugh, Blaine knew there was something else going on. “Where’s Trace right now?”
Sebastian let out a huge sigh, looking like he’d been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. “Moana”
“Moana?”
“I know you don't like using Disney as a babysitter but I did something, and Rachel knows, so I have to tell you now because part of the plan for Princess’ extra special day is meeting Sam, Rachel, Jesse and Jesse Jr at MoMA. I mean Sam knows too, but Rachel couldn’t keep a secret even if she swore on Barbra Streisand and…”
Blaine kissed him again but to stop the rambling. “What did you do?”
Sebastian went to his night table and came back with a wrapped gift. “Just so you know, meeting your daughter was the third most nervous I’d ever been. Going to see you after your eye surgery was second. This is by far the most nervous I’ve ever been.”
Legal papers were the last thing Blaine expected to see when he opened the gift. But nothing prepared him for what he read.
State of New York Family Court
Petition for Full Custody
“Don’t get mad and I know I overstepped. But I know you are uncomfortable leaving Princess with Kurt when you go on tour, especially if he’s still living with that asshole boyfriend of his. It hasn’t been filed, that would be really overstepping, but I asked the family law specialist at my firm if she would take your case. She said yes. She’s also never lost.”
“But…” Blaine kept reading when he was unable to form words. It took a couple of minutes for him to ask “You’re right, I don’t want Trace living with Kurt full-time if Gregory is living there. I could take her with me, but I won’t be back until 2 weeks after school’s back in session. Where is she supposed to stay?”
“If Kurt gets his act together, no change necessary. However, since no one trusts him, Santana and Brittany, Tina, Kitty, Elliot and Mercedes all said they’d take a week to stay at the apartment to keep him honest.”
“Um…”
“Before you say that’s only 5 weeks and you’ll be gone 8 weeks, she already was going to stay with Rachel for a week, making it 6 weeks. Carole and his dad volunteered for the final two.”
Say WHAT??? “Burt and Carole? How?...How…?”
“Sam and Rachel have been helping. Your bestie wanted to take a week until he remembered he’d be on tour with you.”
“One of them called Burt…”
“Rachel. Evidently, Burt has overheard Gregory’s stance on being child-free. He agrees with us that being child-free is a great choice for some, but it shouldn’t be a choice when your significant other has a child. Kurt told his dad he believes he can change Gregory’s mind. By the way, Burt knows about Plan B and says you have his blessing.”
Plan B? Oh, the petition. Burt knows? He approves? “But if Trace doesn’t stay with Kurt, who…?”
“Me”
“You?”
“Me and her Uncles. Wes, David, Thad, Beat, Trent and Niff are all taking a week to stay with us. And of course, her planned week at Rachel's.”
“That’s only…” No, he couldn’t mean… “When you said Trace’s Uncles…”
“Yes, Cooper volunteered for the final week. Sorry, but Cooper sounded a lot better than your mother. There’s something else I have to tell you.”
How much more was he supposed to take? “Ok”
“I was going to ask you to marry me today but I decided not to…today. I didn’t want it to seem like I was only asking you so we could have a stronger case.”
“You were going…?”
“I even asked Sam and Rachel for their blessing. I thought you should know in case someone, Rachel, let my original plan slip out.”
Blaine stopped listening because suddenly everything made perfect sense. He hadn’t said I love you because he was afraid of saying it first. Sebastian hadn’t said I love you because he didn’t know how. He’d never said it to someone before.
However, Sebastian showed him every day that he loved him through his actions. He showed Tracy every day that he loved her through his actions. Those actions were his love language. They were his I love you.
Next thing he knew Sebastian was lifting his chin until they were looking into each other’s eyes. “Blaine…B? What’s wrong? I know I shouldn’t have done this…Damn it, you’re crying. Please say something.”
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
Fandom: Glee
Pairing: Blaine Anderson & Sebastian Smythe
Summary: Before they began dating, Blaine told him he wanted to be wooed. Now he’s saying it’s too much and to rein it in. One look at a calendar and Sebastian knows he's screwed. But if that’s what Blaine Anderson wants, that’s what Blaine Anderson will get.
Notes: Roses and Chocolates
Season 4 AU: No sad Blaine. Bad Klaine break-up but no cheating. No Hunter. No steroids. Tie at Sectionals similar to what happened in Season 2. In other words, ignore the stupid stuff.
However, this one time, we’ll accept the stupidity of canon trying to convince us Lima and Westerville are practically right next to each other so Blaine doesn’t have to drive 2 hours (each way) to school every day.
September
School had been back in session for a week before Sebastian finally gave into Niff’s whining and agreed to go to the Lima Bean. He’d been avoiding the place because Blaine was always there. They shook hands at Regionals, but nothing came of it. They still weren’t talking. But Niff insisted there was something he had to see. It must have been big considering two cars full of Warblers followed them.
When he walked through the doors, he knew exactly what they were talking about. There, in all his glory, was Kurt Hummel wearing an apron, exactly as he’d predicted last year. Oh, he was going to have so much fun with this.
3 Weeks Later
Fridays were half days at Dalton. It was so those leaving for the weekend had time to prepare. This weekend he was staying back to study for his first big Economics (the subject that was going to kick his ass) test. But he could do that later. Right now, he felt like going on a run. He got ready but then changed his mind. He was still going for a run but was going to drive to Lima instead of using Dalton’s track. There was a little park there with a running trail he enjoyed. It also just so happened to be across the street from the Lima Bean. When he finished his run he could get an ice coffee and participate in his new favorite hobby Annoy the fuck out of Hummel.
After 3 weeks some would think he’d grown tired of it. Those people obviously didn’t know him.
High on the endorphins running gave him, Sebastian mentally organized the new zingers he’d come up with. Unfortunately, when he arrived at the coffee shop Hummel wasn’t there. Blaine was.
Shit!
Before he could make a hasty retreat, his former friend (and first boy he fell in love with for more than 20 minutes) called him over.
Shit!
"Shouldn’t you be in class at that public school you slum in?”
"I’m playing hooky.”
"You? Golden Boy Blaine Anderson is skipping? I’m both impressed and curious. What was so important you brought out your inner rebel?”
"I ended my relationship with Kurt.”
October
Blaine was meant to play Teen Angel. Watching him go down those stairs, dressed all in white and singing like a dream was doing things to him...naughty things.
That day in September when Blaine told him he had ended it with old Gayface, he immediately started his Come back to Dalton campaign. The former Warbler had a dozen reasons why he couldn’t. At the time, only one made sense. He didn’t want to change schools yet again (even though the first one wasn’t his fault). It wouldn't look good on his transcript.
Now, seeing Blaine Anderson own yet another stage, he could see another reason for his choice. Dalton didn’t have a Drama Club. Despite only having one scene, any performing arts college admissions officer would be able to see he was the best thing about this monstrosity. He hated to admit it, but this mess desperately needed Rachel Berry. It wasn’t like they weren’t already using graduates. For some reason Santana Lopez was playing the second female lead. Blaine explained why but all he heard was blah blah blah…Sam’s not happy about it…blah blah blah…he’s dating Brittany…blah blah blah…Santana’s ex.
This bit of information, plus the break-up of Berry and the Oaf gave him enough to keep him entertained both before and after the Teen Angel portion of the evening. Hummel looking back at him every 5 minutes also helped. He made sure to give him a little wave every…single…time.
Blaine warned him it would take around a half hour once the play was over for him to be able to leave, but it had almost been an hour. He assumed the delay was people trying to talk him into going to the cast party at Breadsticks. It was no secret Hummel (and the other graduates) planned to ignore the fact it was a cast party and crash. He decided to give it 10 more minutes before he went to find his unofficial, maybe someday, boyfriend.
But then the yelling began.
“Are you kidding me? Never mind, I know you’re not. You expected me to sit on my ass and pine for you until graduation. I can’t believe I was so stupid.”
“Sebastian…”
“Sebastian is none of your damn business.”
“I knew you're cheating on me!”
That was his cue. He ran down the hall and around a corner to find Blaine with the current New Directions on one side and Hummel and the graduates on the other. Fucking great. The one thing Blaine made him promise was not to instigate an already tense situation. Wait…he was on the other side of the building. He (technically) had nothing to do with this showdown starting. But he knew a way to end it.
Game on!
He walked through the Old New Directions, winked at the NYADA reject and handed the flowers he brought to Blaine’s new (McKinley) BFF, Sam. Then, without a word, took Blaine in his arms and kissed him…hard. Blaine caught on and jumped up, wrapping his arms and legs around him like a Koala. When he grabbed hold of the Koala’s (perfect) ass to keep him up, the comments began. Applause erupted from the current New Directions side. Sam yelled Go get it, Anderson. There were catcalls from (who he believed was) Lopez. He was a little too busy to check it out.
If Hummel responded, it must have been at one of those pitches only dogs could hear. When they finally broke apart, he was in a best kiss I ever had daze and didn’t know what to do next.
Blaine did.
“Thanks, Babe. And Kurt, I'm not cheating on you. Not because I'm with Sebastian but because I broke up with you.”
“So, you are sleeping with Smythe!”
Now he knew what to say. “Why? You want to watch? Maybe I can teach you a thing or two. The New York Gays aren’t into, shall we say, vanilla. Then again, neither is B. Oh…you didn't know? You're a bigger idiot than I thought. Sorry about that B...in more ways than one.”
"It's alright. I'm sure the differences in my sex life have been highly speculated since you came back into my life."
Dog whistle, incoherent screaming
“Come on Killer, let’s go.” He took the flowers back from Sam and walked over to Artie (the director on Blaine’s side) “Apologies, but Blaine will not be attending the cast party.”
“No apologies necessary”
They went back to Dalton and crashed the Warblers monthly movie marathon. When Nick took Blaine upstairs to get some pj’s his phone started to go off. Of course, it was Hummel. He said to let it go to voicemail, but Thad answered it. He was able to use the words mock or mocking eight times before the other end went dead. The Warblers who were at Dalton with Hummel were literally rolling on the floor laughing. Someday, someone was going to have to tell him what that was about. When Blaine and Nick returned, he told Blaine what happened. He just shrugged then sat down next to him, stealing half his blanket. After grabbing his phone and blocking his ex's number, Blaine told the story of what happened after the play.
The movie marathon was scrapped. The group spent the rest of the night telling stories and laughing. At one point, some of the guys brought down their laptops and graduated Warblers were Skyped in. He learned what was so funny about the word mock. It was his favorite story after the one where Blaine jumped on a 100 year-old table, broke it into pieces and then somehow managed to charm the headmaster into not giving him detention for destruction of school property.
Fucking amazing
Blaine smiled the entire night until exhaustion took over. By this time, he’d hogged the majority of the blanket and was once again practicing being a Koala bear.
Again, fucking amazing
"Hey, Seb. Did we ever tell you about the Gap Attack?”
Thad took off at a full sprint when Blaine instantly woke up at the mere mention of the Gap Attack. It was ok, he knew the story but never got why it was such a big deal. Because, seriously, how could anyone reject such a grand gesture from Blaine Anderson?
November
The Warblers and New Directions decided to combine their We won Sectionals parties since technically they both won.
“A fucking tie? How the hell did we fucking tie?”
“It’s happened before” Sam reminded him, only slightly slurring his words. “When Blaine and he who shall not be named were at Dalton. Blaine took the lead on both songs and knocked them out of the park. Then Quinn and I did an awweeesooome duet. You know, I really liked Quinn but then she started sleeping with…yeah, I’m drunk.”
“Slept with who? Come on Evans!” Good thing that Sugar girl’s basement was huge so there was plenty of other furniture for the others. Sam was out cold. Watching his girlfriend eye fuck her ex all night probably contributed the situation, especially when that Quinn girl actually fucked some guy behind his back. But who?
He needed to find Blaine.
It didn’t take long. He was off to the side talking with the Oaf. If he understood what happened, the guy flunked out of the Army and has now taken over the New Directions since Schuster abandoned them. Fuck! He was also Hummel’s stepbrother.
Everyone knew their kiss after Grease was just to piss-off Hummel. It must have worked because the delusional diva-wannabe had gone silent. That changed today when he called Blaine, five minutes before they were supposed to go onstage. His number was supposed to be blocked but somehow rang through. That could wait. The real problem was figuring out what triggered the call in the first place. Since he wasn’t going to get answers from the fucking narcissist, the Oaf would have to do. “Did you tell the Bad Fairy what a dick move it was to call Blaine right before the New Directions went on stage? Or at least find out what the hell he wanted?”
The Oaf looked toward the ground and huffed, the international signal for you’re not going to like this. “Kurt thought he and Blaine would get back together when he was here last month. When that didn’t happen, he told anyone who would listen he found out Blaine was cheating on him with you even before he left for NYC. Supposedly he's been super depressed enough for his boss to call him into her office yesterday. She told him he’d never be able to move on until he offered forgiveness to those who wronged him. Kurt called Blaine so Blaine could apologize for cheating on him and then he could forgive him.” The Oaf and Blaine silently waited for a response. It wasn’t what they expected.
Full-on laughter
When he was able to breathe again, he sobered (not really, he was still pretty drunk) up to stare the Oaf directly in the eyes. He seemed a little taken aback. It probably didn’t happen very often. The dude was tall, but so was he. “Seb…”
“No, you’re going to listen to me. Tell that delusional son-of-a-bitch to stop saying shit about me and Blaine. If he says no, remind him my father is the State’s Attorney. I will never…ever see the inside of a jail cell. Oh, sorry Blaine."
"Don't be. Even if I wanted to press charges, which I didn't, the idiot gave away the evidence."
"True." He turned his attention back to the Oaf. No, really turned. It made him nauseous. "And also let Gayface know my new, very good friend Sugar told me her Daddy can dispose of a body so it's never found. Got that?”
“Yeah, I’ll take care of it.”
He (slightly) nodded his head (still nauseous) and backed off. Blaine was smiling that smile that made him want to drop to his knees and offer everlasting fidelity…and give him a blowjob. However, this wasn’t the time or place. “Now that we’ve got that settled, can one of you tell me who the asshole was that fucked Sam's girlfriend behind his back? I need to kick his, or her, ass. No, I can’t hit a girl. Hey, Sugar! Come over here. I might need a favor!”
December
“Explain it to me one more time.”
"You understood the first time. You understood the second and third time.”
"I understand the part about Sam and Brittany getting married…”
"Fake married”
"But they didn’t know it was fake.”
Blaine lifted his coffee and gave it a slight tip, acknowledging his point. “Touché. So, what don’t you understand?”
"How Sammy-boy is still walking around. I thought Lopez would be here on the first flight out of NYC. She might not be as delusional as Hummel, but even I can tell she thought Britt would come running back if she changed her mind. The true question is she pissed because her ex moved on, or that Britt moved on with Sam, Satan's other ex?”
"You know about Sam and Santana?”
"I know he was just a beard but didn’t know it. Those girls in the New Directions treated your BFF like shit, which is really, really bad considering I'm the one saying it. You’d think he’d be quite the catch with those lips. Since he’s on team vagina…”
"Stop! Sam’s my best friend.”
"Are you telling me you’ve never thought about what those lips could do if he was on his knees…”
"Oh my God! Don’t put that thought in my head!”
He had to admit he’d thought about Sam that way a time or two, but it was always centered around Blaine. Primarily, what would happen if the guy was a switch hitter. He and Blaine were extremely tactical together. He’d watched them hug more times in 3 1/2 months than his parents had in his lifetime. They also had a cool nickname…Blam. He and Blaine needed a nickname. Bastian? No…Seblaine. Image Hummel’s meltdown hearing the Seb in his name replacing the K in Klaine.
"Earth to Sebastian. Please tell me you’re not thinking of Sam giving you a blowjob.”
"I wasn’t until…kidding. I’m only kidding.” He took a sip of his coffee before changing the subject. It was time to push things forward, or at least find out if it was possible. “But I was thinking about how close you and Sam are. I mean you were practically holding hands the other day when I picked you up. If your BFF could be your BF, would you be with him?” Well, that sounded stupid.
"Have I thought of me and Sam together? I'm a 17 year-old gay boy and he's gorgeous 17 year-old boy with six-pack abs. Of course, I've thought about it. But I'd never do anything to jeopardize our friendship."
Good! “So, if Blam is totally platonic, what about dating in general? You’ve had enough guys hit on you at Scandals. Or are you still not over Hummel?” Please be over him, please be over him.
"I don’t think the guys at Scandals are looking for dates. And I’ve been over Kurt for a while now." YES!!! "I should tell you something.”
That didn’t sound good. “Anything”
“Burt, Kurt’s dad, came to see me the other day and asked me to go with him to NYC for Christmas, obviously to see Kurt.”
WTF?! “He knows you and Hummel aren’t together anymore, right? Or didn’t he care.”
"It’s not like that.” Blaine finished his coffee before sitting back in his chair. “You can’t tell anyone.”
"Done.”
"He has cancer. Cancer is what killed Kurt’s mom. Burt’s going to NYC to tell him in person.”
Great, now he feels like an ass. "I’m sorry. I know you’re still close to him despite everything. But that doesn’t explain why he asked you to go.”
"He thought I would…you know what? I don’t really know why he thought it would be a good idea. Sam overheard Burt on the phone with Kurt and he mentioned our annual Christmas duet tradition. Maybe it was something to do with that.”
"Christmas duet tradition?”
"The first song Kurt and I sang together was Baby, it’s cold outside. And you saw the Christmas TV Special the New Directions filmed last year.”
"And you were great. But you said annual tradition.”
"Last year and the year before.”
“Killer, doing something two years in a row isn’t an annual tradition, it’s a coincidence.” For some reason Blaine began to laugh then volunteered to get them another round of coffees and a couple of Christmas cookies. When he returned the laughter had stopped, but the boy across from him seemed lighter somehow. “What did I say to put you in this mood? Not that I’m complaining.”
"Don't get mad but I was feeling a little sad about the Christmas duet tradition until you called it a coincidence."
O...K? "Why?"
"When I took the time to look back on my relationship with Kurt, I realized we didn't have a quote/unquote thing. The closest I could come was the duets."
"Nothing else? You were together over a year."
"Exactly. He gave me red and yellow roses once, but it was his attempt at an apology for accusing me of stealing Tony, West Side Story, from him. Even before the official announcement, it was pretty clear I had the part considering Artie had me read with both Rachel and Mercedes. Don't ask." He made the locking gesture over his lips. This sounded like the beginning of a rant, and he didn't want to stop progress. Hopefully, it would give him the information he had (badly) been trying to get since they got there.
"After that, every romantic gesture came from me. Hell, I weaved together a bow-tie ring out of gum wrappers. Don't ask." Wouldn't dream of it. "Oh, I forgot. He did give me a stuffed dog when my brother he was visiting, who by the way, Kurt didn't try to hide his massive crush on. Anyway, I was so touched he thought of me that I didn't wrap my head around the story of the dog until later. The seniors were at the amusement park for Senior Skip Day. Rachel made Finn play the games so he could win her stuffed animals. On the way back, Kurt thought of me, or Cooper and thus me, I don't know, and realized he didn't bring me back anything, which he said he would. So, he stole one of Rachel's multiple animals and gave it to me, saying she wouldn't miss it. He didn't win the dog. He stole it and then told me like it was no big deal."
"That's...that's a lot."
"I've got dozens more."
"No, that's ok. I believe you." And he had enough information. Anything more would just piss him off and cloud his focus. "So, what you're saying is when you're ready to date, you want to be the one who is...I know there's a word."
"Wooed. Yeah, I want to be wooed. And not just wooed. Bigly wooed. Hugely wooed. No, humungously wooed."
"I don't believe anything you said was grammatically correct."
"I don't care. I want chocolates and roses..."
"Just not red and yellow ones."
"Exactly! And besides being humungously wooed, I want to be with someone I don’t have to hide myself from. He’d have to accept my inner Geek…comic books, video games, Star Wars…”
Shit! "That eliminates me from the pool of potential boyfriends. I will never understand Star Wars. At least the canon…”
"Oh My God!!! I told Sam to stop sending you links to clone/clone smut!”
"I can’t help it. I find them fascinating. I mean, they’re clones of the same guy. So, the clone is basically having sex with himself. How is that not Masturbation?”
December 23 in Lima/December 24 in Paris
"Hey, Killer. I thought we agreed to Skype on the 26th after we opened our gifts?"
Blaine smiled and picked up Sebastian's (already opened) gift. "You got me a stuffed dog!"
"It's not the 26th!"
"I can't believe you actually thought I'd wait!"
Yeah, he should have known better. "Just so you know, I didn't win him, but I did build him."
"You went to Build-A-Bear and made me a puppy? You know what Build-A-Bear is?"
"Trent did. Then I asked Sam if he thought you'd like it. He showed up with Tina because she wanted to make sure I didn't fuck it up."
"You...?"
Something changed. Blaine had been like a hyperactive puppy...oh, now he gets the whole Puppy Dog Eyes of Doom thing Sam went on and on about. "You ok Killer?"
"Yeah, yeah, I'm great." It looked like he hugged the stuffed animal tighter, but he couldn't tell for sure. The Skype was a little fuzzy. "Open your gift."
"No..."
"Open it. I want to see your face." When he came back with the box, Blaine was practically bouncing through the screen. "Open it!"
"Ok, ok...oh. Men of McKinley?"
"January and December."
"Jan...oh, shit!"
"Remember when I told you the New Directions had to raise money to get a handicapped accessible bus for Regionals? Ta-da!"
"Um..."
"Speaking of January, December, do you want to get dinner before Sugar's New Year's Eve party?"
"Sure. Breadsticks, since it seems like that's the only place the New Directions go?"
"No, when I said dinner, I meant just you and me."
🎉🎉🎉"That sounds great."
December 31 11:59 PM/ January 1 12:02 AM
When the kissed ended, he lowered his head to put their foreheads together. "Blaine Anderson, I promise I am going to humungously woo you like no one has been humungously wooed before."
February
Blaine was in the Warbler Commons holding the basket he had delivered to McKinley. The Warblers were nowhere to be found. Thad told him Good Luck when he literally ran into him in the hallway but didn't say anything about canceling Warbler practice. Regionals were in 3 weeks. "Hey Babe, do you know where the guys are?"
"I asked them to give us some privacy." He held up the basket before setting it on one of the sofas. "You've got to stop, Bas."
"You don't like the puppies? They're for Bas Dog. The puppy with the pink bow is Alexandra and the one with the blue bow is Devon." Blaine sighed, then took his hand, taking him to the sofa across from the basket. "Did I do something wrong? You're the one who said you wanted to be humungously wooed."
"And I love being humungously wooed by you, but it's every day and I can't imagine the amount of money you've spent."
"That's not my fault, it's yours." Shit! He didn't want to tell Blaine this but no lying or hiding feelings was their Rule #1. "Remember the day you came to my house to help put away the Christmas decorations?"
"Yeah, there were a lot more than I thought there'd be considering your family spent the holidays in Paris."
"When you're a politician, you've still got to keep up appearances. Anyway, New Year's morning, after my wooing promise, I realized something. I had no fucking clue how to woo someone. Then I made a humungously big mistake. I asked my mother."
"Your mother is a lovely woman. Maybe a little over the top."
"No, and I love her, but she's an overbearing French snob who looks down on everyone and everything...except you. You come over, being all charming, (air quotes) forgetting not to call my parents Ma'am and Sir. You brought delicious homemade muffins you baked that morning because you didn't have a hostess gift. I invited you for manual labor not a dinner party."
"It was the polite thing..."
"And then when you and Mother went missing, and Dad and I found you both at the piano singing the score to Les Misérables? My dad pulled me aside and told me he was doubling my weekly allowance but called it my Don't fuck this up fund. Later that night, after you'd gone home, Mother came to my room and gave me a 3-hour lecture on wooing. Then she told me she was tripling my weekly allowance but called it my Don't fuck this up fund."
Blaine's smile was the only thing holding back his laughter. "Did you tell Vivian your father had already given you a raise?"
"Not at first. I thought she was just adding on to what Dad had already done. But when I checked the next day, the original amount was now five times larger. I told them but they waved it off. So, long story short, I haven't spent nearly what I could have. I didn't want to freak you out. And if you haven't guessed, my parents really like you."
"My parents like you too. If my father says the word "upgrade" one more time..." Blaine kissed his cheek but he could tell it was about his developing relationship with his father more than what they were discussing. It sometimes overwhelmed his boyfriend (he loved saying that) how he and Patrick Anderson got along so well. "Thank you for telling me what your parents have done but I want you, and your parents, to understand something. You're an amazing boyfriend and not because of the gifts. Ok, not just because of the gifts. If you don't believe me, believe the universe. You got into Harvard and I'm going to Berklee. We applied to those schools last year, when we weren't talking."
"Berklee was your backup school."
"Yes, at the time, but I could've chosen NYU and didn't. Something was steering me toward Boston. You're stuck with me. And maybe Brittany. Evidently, she's some sort of math genius and MIT is flying her out for further testing."
"That...that...that...huh?"
"I can't explain it either. I'll let you know when I know." Blaine got up and came backed with the two stuffed animals. "I love being wooed by you. Puppies for Bas Dog is incredibly sweet. The problem I have is you keep sending everything to McKinley."
"Are any of those assholes giving you crap because your boyfriend is sending you gifts?"
"No, it's not because you and I are gay. It's because Valentine's Day is next week. Today, a group of guys came into the Choir Room after Glee begging me to ask you to stop. Their girlfriends are constantly pointing out what you've sent me. No way can they live up to those expectations."
"That's not my fault."
"I know, just please, nothing else to McKinley until after Valentine's Day."
"Fine, but afterwards we're back to humungously wooing?"
Blaine sighed and gripped his hand tighter. "I told you, I'm not going anywhere."
"But..."
"I had an idea. Have you heard about Wes' Lent Challenge?"
"Yes, but you know my opinion on organized religions. They call me an abomination. I call them a bunch of hypocritical pedophiles."
"And I agree, but the Challenge wasn't about religion. It was about creativity, but we didn't get to choose what to give up. I had to give up boy band moves for 40 days. We were getting ready for Regionals!"
"Boy band moves?"
"And jumping on furniture."
"Ah, that makes more sense." Something about the way Blaine was looking at him let him know he wasn't going to let this go. "What's your idea?"
"Let me show you my Blaine Anderson everything has to be over the top skills and allow me to take over Valentine's Day."
OH, HELL NO! "That's not going to happen. We can both do Valentine's Day."
"That's what I figured you say. But I want you to understand, I'm with you because of you, not that you're the King of Humungously Wooing. You do believe that, don't you?'
Uhhhh... "Maybe"
"I know the Lent Challenge is a bit extreme, but I couldn't think of another way to get you to stop wooing me and let me prove to you how we can be really great without it."
Maybe he'd been going overboard. At first, he could blame having no idea how to be in a relationship and then bringing in his parents. Then Hummel found out they were together and conveniently came back to Lima to check on his dad, despite just beginning classes at NYADA. If he was there for his dad, how come he was at McKinley daily "helping" Schuster and the Oaf get the New Directions ready for Regionals? That's when he started sending the gifts to McKinley. But once he started, he couldn't stop. Ok, Hummel said something about Blaine will dump him once the gifts ended and he'd be there to pick up the pieces.
He wasn't proud that he'd let it get to him.
"So, nothing to McKinley until after Valentine's Day. Then wooing, just not humungously wooing. And then, the Lent Challenge." He leaned in and kissed his boyfriend...his boyfriend. Yeah, he should learn to accept that. "When does Lent start?"
"It's not like Christmas. It's the 40 days before Easter and Easter's usually somewhere in April."
Later that evening, he pulled out a calendar to find out exactly when Lent began.
Oh, shit! He's so screwed.
But if that’s what Blaine Anderson wants, that’s what Blaine Anderson will get.
February 14th
The next week was pretty great for him and Blaine. Sam on the other hand...
Brittany broke up with him via text, when they were in the same room, because her cat told her to. The next day she flew off to MIT. The breakup (dumping) was most likely due to that, but the cat story was more fun.
Sam's pain was real, and he kind of felt bad, but it gave him the opportunity to woo Blaine but look like he was cutting back at the same time. Thankfully, even after all the money he's spent to this point and the money he was spending on Valentine's Day, there was still a substantial balance in his Don't fuck this up fund.
Sugar told him she didn't know what guys did, but when girls had a breakup, they usually spent the next few days in bed with friends (to tell you what a jerk your ex is), ice cream (to eat your feelings) and a movie (probably the Notebook). That wasn't going to work, but it gave him an idea. He and Beat (the Warblers gaming expert) went to the mall. Two Play Stations and multiple (including the latest Marvel and Star Wars) games later, they moved on to the grocery store. Sam watched what he ate (obsessively) so he didn't know what ice cream to get. He bought them all along with everything he needed for a sundae bar.
While took the haul back to Dalton, he went to Hummel's house to kidnap Blam. He thought the Oaf was going to swallow his tongue when he opened the door to see him standing there. It wasn't a picnic for him either.
Sam protested but Blaine convinced him to go with it. When they got to Dalton and saw the setup...2 large TVs with a game station on each, stacks and stacks of pizza, a wide variety of non-alcoholic beverages (the good stuff was for later) and a freezer full of ice cream...the McKinley boys were in complete shock.
"Sugar told me about the ice cream, Notebook, friends version of a post-breakup party, but Sam's a dude. I thought video games, junk food, ice cream and later, alcohol, sounded better. And for once, you're not going to scrutinize everything you eat. We'll deal with the aftermath, you know, after. And before you ask, I didn't invite anyone else from McKinley because Britt is their friend as well. Here, you can trash her all you want and nothing gets back to Satan."
As the Warblers took Sam under their wings, Blaine drug him to his dorm room and gave him the best blowjob of his life...times 10! Not that he expected it to happen but...holy shit! Maybe there was another way to woo Blaine Anderson.
But that was last week. Today was Valentine's Day. The creme de la creme of romantic holidays. All other wooing meant nothing if he didn't get this right. He knew it wasn't true, but it sure felt like it.
He honored Blaine's wishes and sent nothing to Mckinley. They agreed to meet at Dalton and he was pretty sure some of the guys were helping Blaine with something. It was driving him nuts. To make it worse, his Economics (his worse class) teacher noticed he was distracted and called on him constantly. Asshole!
When class ended, Jeff took one arm and Nick the other. Without explanation, they escorted him to the Conservatory on the other side of the Academy. Blaine was at the grand piano wearing the same outfit he was wearing when they first saw each other. He was even wearing the bowtie, which he didn't do as much anymore.
When your legs don't work like they used to before
And I can't sweep you off of your feet
Will your mouth still remember the taste of my love?
Will your eyes still smile from your cheeks?
And, darling, I will
Be loving you 'til we're 70
And, baby, my heart
Could still fall as hard at 23
And I'm thinking 'bout how
People fall in love in mysterious ways
Maybe just the touch of a hand
Well, me, I fall in love with you every single day
And I just wanna tell you I am
So, honey, now
Take me into your loving arms
Kiss me under the light of a thousand stars
Place your head on my beating heart
I'm thinking out loud
Maybe we found love right where we are
"Did you like it?"
"I loved it. You know Ed Sheeran is one of my favorites right now, but, isn't there more?"
Blaine picked up a gift sitting on the other side of him and brought it over. "I thought we'd save the rest of it for later."
He opened the box and... "Holy shit! These are front row! And backstage passes! How? I thought about this but he's not performing near here."
"I know, those are for his Boston show. It's during Spring Break. I thought we could go check out the campuses and surrounding area. It would be nice if we could find a coffee shop before we actually move there."
"Oh, wow, yeah. Wait a minute, your parents agreed to me and you going to Boston unchaperoned?"
"So, did yours."
"That's not surprising. They love you. I wouldn't be surprised if they find some apartments for us to check out while we're there." He leaned in to thank his boyfriend for the amazing gift when... "Seriously Killer, how did you get these? From what I've heard, he doesn't allow backstage passes unless he personally approved them."
"Cooper"
"Cooper? You're brother, Cooper?"
"When Ed first moved to LA he lived in the apartment across the hall from Coop. They became friends. Since my brother had never asked before, Ed was more than willing to help him out. However, this does mean I owe him a HUGE favor. I don't really want to think about it." Blaine went up on his toes and kissed him before taking a step back, obviously anticipating something. "Well?"
"Well? Oh, you want your gift." He reached into his messenger bag and handed his boyfriend a small box. "I hope you like it. I tried to remember everything you told me."
Blaine's blazing smile faded the moment he saw the contents of the box. "A chocolate bar and a plastic flower?"
"Rose. It's a rose. I remembered when you went on your original wooing rant, and you said you wanted someone who would give you chocolate and roses. And I hope you noticed it's white, not red or yellow."
"I noticed, but...I mean, I know I asked you to scale back, but it's Valentine's Day."
"And?"
"And what?"
He opened the calendar on his phone and showed it to his thoroughly confused boyfriend. "Today is Valentine's Day and the first day of Lent. Easter is early this year. Maybe next time you get a big idea, you should make sure of the details before implementing it."
It took a little bit of time before Blaine put it all together. "The Lent Challenge. You were supposed to stop with all the gifts for the Lent Challenge."
He tried hard to suppress the snark in his expression but couldn't. "I couldn't get you nothing..."
"Oh, no, this is great. You did exactly what I wanted."
"Excellent! Let's go to the Commons. I want to show the guys what my wonderful boyfriend got me for our first Valentine's Day." That was laying it on a bit thick, but he'd already gone this far. Blaine trying to smile and saying how much he loved the candy bar and dollar store flower was pretty pathetic. "That's strange" he said when they found the doors shut. "We've got practice in 20 minutes." He opened the doors and stood off to the side.
"Oh...my...God!" Blaine ran right past him. Inside the Commons were seven (one for each week they'd been boyfriends) bouquets of a dozen white roses. There were also a dozen handmade chocolate hearts from the best chocolatier in Paris.
"Like I said. I remembered you wanted to be with someone who would give you chocolate and roses. I thought maybe you would forgive me this one..."
He couldn't finish the sentence when Koala Bear Blaine returned, kissing him with everything he could put into it. When it ended, there were tears on both their faces. He's never understood happy tears until Blaine came into his life. "Are you ok?"
"More than. And I promise, I will never question your wooing again."
20 Years Later
The noise of his husband and children carried up from the kitchen to his bedroom, even with the door closed. Sebastian was making Alexandra and Devon heart shaped pancakes as he had every year since they ate solid food. He always made sure not to go down to the kitchen until they were finished. This was a tradition between just the three of them. Sebastian also kept up the tradition of giving him chocolates and roses for Valentines Day. The most memorable was during their senior year of college. They flew to Paris so Sebastian could take him to the chocolatier who made the chocolates from the first year. Inside one of the hearts was an engagement ring.
He walked over to his dresser and pulled out a small box. It was the secret he hid from everyone, even the man he married. Inside were his two favorite possessions in the world…a chocolate bar wrapper and a plastic rose. The moment Sebastian explained the logic behind them, he knew he’d marry that boy someday. He had listened to him. He had paid attention. No one had done so in a very long time. THAT was the greatest gift he ever received.
"Daddy”
He quickly put back the box and turned to see 4 year-old Devon, the spitting image of his husband. They were in so much trouble in approximately 10 years. “What are you doing here Mr. Man? You know the rule about knocking.”
"Sorry Daddy, I’m xited.”
“That doesn't excuse not knocking. Now tell me, why are you excited?”
"Papa put choccy chips in the heart cakes! And he making flower cakes!”
“Chocolates and roses” he couldn't help but smile at the fact Sebastian was still a total romantic. He'd always been, it just took him a while to trust it. ”Wow, those sounds amazing!”
"Can you eat flower and heart choccy chip cakes with me and Ally and Papa?”
"Oh Sweetheart, pancakes are your Valentine tradition with only Ally and Papa.”
"But Papa says we can have new dition with you. But we has to do it three times or it’s a co…co…”
Killer, doing something two years in a row isn’t an annual tradition, it’s a coincidence. "The word is coincidence and your Papa is right, as usual. Let’s go start a new tradition.”
Bliadhna Mhath Ùr, to you all, I hope everyone's year has started in a positive way. Well...it's that time again, folks! Seblainintine's Weekend is coming up soon, but...this year, we are doing things a bit differently.
As I'm sure you've all noticed, Valentine's Day falls on a very awkward day this year. Many countries see it as bad luck to celebrate anything before the actual day, and holding it after the event seems completely redundant...
So...this time we are having an extended celebration of our beautiful boys and their love, running from Wednesday 14th until 23:59 on Sunday 18th February.
There are only three themes for this event, and as always, you can write/create for one, two, or all three of the themes, and you can, of course, combine the themes in any way you like.
The themes are:
Roses and Chocolate
Love Language
Red and Blue
Can't wait to see what all you super-talented Seblainers come up with, and I'll be back in around a fortnight with a reminder of the rules etc. As always, if you have any questions in the meantime, just send me an Ask or a message.
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