Trials of Single Life|| The Deans (Monday night after Montauk)
Rob walked into his bedroom, putting his phone on the wireless charger and turned to Karen, who was already in bed reading. “I might have never felt more glad to have found you early, that Sebastian wouldn’t let me not ask you out, and that you agreed to marry me,” he said with a genuine smile for his wife.
Karen slipped a bookmark on her page and set the book aside, chuckling. “Well, I am very smart,” she teased before nodding her head toward the phone. “Was that Sebastian you were texting?”
Rob nodded as he started to get undressed and ready for bed. “Back at the beginning of fall, there was one day that Seb was just all smiles, and obviously off in his own little world. He was quoting quasi romantic poetry, and his eyes twinkled. I thought maybe he and Hunt had gotten engaged, but he shot that down and had no idea why I’d gone to that conclusion.”
Karen raised her eyebrows. “Do you really think Sebastian and Hunter will ever get married?”
Rob shrugged as he got into bed. “I would have said no, but that was basically the theme of tonight’s texts-- Sebastian working out if he should marry Hunter. Was this the next logical step for them.”
Karen turned and grabbed Rob’s arm. “Really? This is big. HUGE.”
“I know,” Rob nodded. “I tried to really talk this through. It feels weird, off. I might have pushed too far. I brought up Blaine. I brought up Hunter and Jay at the museum. He told me not to tell him how he feels.”
“I still can’t believe that happened,” Karen admitted.
“Blaine or Hunter and Jay?”
“Both!” she laughed. “But mostly Hunter and Jay. I didn’t expect Hunter to take to Jay as he did. I thought he might be standoffish and Jay might be awkward because of it,” Karen explained. “Even after the museum. The two of them didn’t exactly give off any awkward vibes in Montauk. And Jay seemed okay with the overtly love-y Hunter and Seb.”
Rob nodded. “You’re not wrong. Seb doesn’t seem bothered. In fact he told me he had no right to tell Hunter not to sleep with Jay.” He looked at Karen and raised his eyebrows.
“Did they sleep together?” she gasped.
“No idea. But I don’t think it’s so wrong that Sebastian asked Hunter not to fuck around with Jay,” Rob admitted. “And now he’s talking about maybe asking Hunter to marry him. Am I alone in feeling this is weird?”
Karen was quiet. “Honestly, I think it’s weird regardless.”
Rob let out a breath, glad that Karen was thinking similarly. “There is more. Let’s go back to the day when I thought Seb and Hunter might have gotten engaged. Turns out Sebastian has an online ....friend.”
“What?” Karen looked at her husband.
“He’s been writing to this guy he doesn’t know. He assumes he’s in New York, I think the city was their connection point,” Rob explained. “They don’t share personal information like specific jobs, or addresses, or even names. I don’t know if the guy knows about Hunter and Sebastian, but Sebastian knows the guy has a boyfriend, and still flirts shamelessly with him.”
“That’s not so strange. Sebastian flirts with any attractive guy, and he doesn’t usually care about their relationship status,” Karen offered.
“He’s never seen the guy Karen. Ever. And he’s still interested. He’s still flirting,” Rob explained. “And moreover, he told me their communication is a good distraction for him. I didn’t ask what specifically he needs distracting from. I’m not even sure Sebastian knows. But he’s really empathetic to this guy’s needs,” he shook his head. “That sounds wrong, and like Seb never takes people into consideration ad that’s not it. It’s just, he doesn’t really know the guy, but I get the feeling he cares. Really cares. And he said he didn’t tell me, because at first it seemed like cybersex might happen and he knew I’d do that silent Rob but still silent judge thing.”
“Did they have cyber sex?”
Rob shook his head. “He said no. Said that it might not ever happen because the guy seems like the emotional type and he doesn’t want to ruin things by making the guy do something he’ll regret. Then Seb admitted he’s a little shaken himself with what happened at the museum, be that Blaine or Hunter/Jay or all of them, who knows. He said he got too honest with the guy and the guy might be not interested. But I think Sebastian wants him to be. Even though he recognizes the guy seems delicate because of other things going on.”
“Are they going to meet?” Karen asked.
Rob shook his head. “No, I don’t think so, at least not anytime soon. Seb knows he’s a physical person, and the chemistry might or might not be there in person, although it sounds there, and I can’t see it just disappearing in person. Seb also said that he doesn’t want to meet the guy until, and I quote “ the whole teenage Blaine Anderson dyfunction is completely out of sight in my rearview mirror”. He raised his eyebrows at Karen. “He didn’t say it out loud. But I think Sebastian realizes what they have going could be something, and I think he might be waiting until the boyfriend is no more. Or Hunter is no more. Or, maybe this is why Sebastian is thinking about marrying Hunter. It’s a way out of this. Maybe?”
“Wow. I want to know who this guy is,” Karen laughed.
“I know, me too,” Rob admitted. “I feel bad, as the best friend, knowing how much Hunt relies on Seb and vice versa, and encouraging this .... online flirtation.”
“Find out more about him if you can.”
Rob laughed. “Alright, I’ll try.” He sighed. “How was your night?”
