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Sebastian isn’t exactly the type of man small girls dream about, nor really the type of man Blaine dreamt about when he was smaller, tucked into bed after a movie night with phantasies of Disney princes and love at first sight.
No, Sebastian isn’t anything like those men.
He doesn’t call him three times a day just to tell him that he loved him. He doesn’t bring him flowers “just because” or gets up early on Sundays to make him breakfast.
Sebastian is handsome, sure, but he knows it and exploits it every chance he gets at using it to his advantage. He is rough around the edges, drastic with his words, sometimes even bordering on mean (which is the exact opposite of how Blaine is). He throws around money like he owns the world, thinking it will buy him everything or just buy him out of every trouble he might find himself in. Things come easy to him, people flocking to him and his bravado, so he never really has to work for anything.
No one ever said “No” to him.
Not until he met Blaine.
It was Blaine’s sophomore year in college, his nerves from studying in a big city where he didn’t know anybody finally calmed after the first few semesters. He understood how college worked now, found new friends in his small and tight-knit bubble of fellow students and a new favorite coffee shop where the baristas already started making his coffee as soon as he entered because they knew his order by now. All in all, he just felt much more comfortable in his skin.
The night he met Sebastian, he was out with some friends, drinking in one of the pubs close to campus where the beer wasn’t necessarily the best but it was cheap. They were playing pool, Blaine loosing big time, though no one really cared. They just wanted to have a good time.
He had his eyes focused on the red ball, trying to figure out a way to maneuver it around one of Sam’s and have it end up in the left middle pocket when he spotted him: It was so obvious that this boy didn’t belong in that bar. His white shirt might’ve been unbuttoned at the top, sleeves pushed up, but still it looked like entirely too expensive fabric for the rustical décor that surrounded them. What really caught Blaine’s attention, though, was the intense stare, the piercing green of his eyes shining even in the dim light of the bar, only accentuated by a taunting smirk.
Blaine shook his head and blinked his eyes rapidly as he tried to focus again on the ball. He still could feel the other boy’s eyes on him and it made him so self-conscious, he missed the shot. As he got up again from leaning over the pool table, he looked up, searching for him again – but he was gone.
He tried to be not too disappointed.
Half an hour and a victory dance by Sam later, Blaine handed his cue over to a blonde girl who had been waiting for a while before he turned around to get a drink from the bar. He smiled at Martha, the 40-something bartender that was always here.
“Beer?”, the woman asked, already reaching for a glass.
“I think my friend here needs something way stronger than that”, a voice sneered from behind Blaine just as he was about to nod in thanks. He turned around and his breath hitched: Behind him stood the boy who had been watching him play earlier, an easy grin on his face and looking even more handsome close up.
“I mean, you must be crushed after losing that game. Even though I certainly can’t complain, it was an absolute joy watching you push those balls.” A small smirk made the double-meaning obvious. “He’ll have a whiskey on the rocks. Just put it on my tab.” He didn’t even look up when he impatiently snapped his fingers in the general direction of the bartender to make her hurry up.
Blaine furrowed his brows at the nonchalance with which this boy yelled out orders like he was Martha’s boss and decided he really didn’t like it. He threw the bartender a glance. “Actually, Martha, a beer would be great.” He looked back at the boy who was now frowning at him. “And I can pay for that myself, thank you.”
Irritation flickered over the other’s face for a second but soon gave way to an indulging smile. “No, really, I insist.” He took a step closer. “Let me make you feel better, babe. Can’t see such a pretty face sad.”
Blaine shook his head and rolled his eyes. “It was just a game.”
“Still”, the other boy leaned down to whisper in his ear, “you know, if you want to, I could teach you. Bend you over the table and…”, his breath ghosted over Blaine’s earlobe and suddenly, he felt a finger gently sliding down his arm, “show you how to shoot properly.”
The innuendo was so unmistakably clear in the metaphor, Blaine had to blink twice before his brain caught up.
“Or I could just take you home and show you a good time there. I think I still have some champagne on ice and tonight would be the perfect night for some Dom.” His finger stroked down Blaine’s right arm and Blaine hated the hot trail of goosebumps it left behind. “We could talk, get to know each other. Or if you wanna play something else… I figure we could find something. Preferably in my bedroom. You know, your skin looks like it really matches with my sheets…”
Blaine sighed and closed his eyes.
What a shame, he thought. What a goddamn shame – he’s an ass…
And a shame it really was: Dating had been hard for him in the past year, everything so overwhelming and new and he was so busy trying to figure out his life that – to be honest – finding a boyfriend hadn’t been top of his priority list. He went out with a few guys, one of them – Eric – even had the potential of being more until he found out about the boyfriend back home in Boston.
And the other one in San Jose.
So that had been that. Still, he longed for the intimacy of falling into someone’s arms after a bad day, the security of waking up with limbs tangled and the comfort of getting to create and share memories. He wanted more than a hook-up. Sex was great and all but Blaine wanted someone who truly cared about him.
Which was why – as flattering as the attention was – Blaine was not interested in something casual. And even if he was, he was definitely not interested in someone who made his intentions that obvious before even asking for his name. Didn’t he know that flirting was a dance? You don’t go all in after only two sentences.
And then the fucking finger snapping at staff? It might be a pet-peeve of Blaine but after having worked in a local café at home, he knew exactly what type of costumer behaved like that and he wanted nothing to do with that kind of person.
He took a step back just when Martha put down his beer on the counter.
“Thank you for the offer but I don’t need”, he pursed his lips, “private lessons or whatever you’re talking about.” He smiled at the bartender in thanks, grabbed his glass and raised it towards the other boy. “And I’d much prefer drinking cheap beer here than sipping champagne on satin sheets in a stranger’s bedroom who snaps his fingers at other people.”
“Silk, actually…”
Blaine rolled his eyes. “Whatever.” Just as he was turning around, he felt a hand wrap around his upper arm.
“Okay, okay, I think we got off on the wrong foot. Let me start again?” The other boy ducked his head, an apologetic smile on his lips. “Hi, I saw you play and I think you’re really hot and I would love to have a drink with you.” The corners of his mouth twitched. “I mean, for a start.”
Blaine just stared up at him in disbelief. Didn’t the guy get the message?
“Pass.”
Suddenly, annoyance flickered over the stranger’s features. He clicked his tongue. “Listen, I apologized, what else do you want?”
“First of all”, Blaine cocked his head, the frown between his eyebrows back and deeper than before, “you didn’t apologize. Nor did you have the decency to even tell me who you are before propositioning me, don’t you think that’s weird?”
“Alright, alright”, the other raised one hand in surrender, “you’re right. Where are my manners? Hi, I’m Sebastian.” He grinned. “And you are…? I mean, besides incredibly gorgeous and super hot?”
He huffed a dry laugh and gently peeled off Sebastian’s hand. “Leaving, that’s what I am. Goodbye, Sebastian.”
With that, he turned around for good and walked over to where his friends had gathered around a table, completely missing the way Sebastian’s mouth dropped open and his eyes went wide with a look of complete bewilderment at being stood up like that.
Blaine was still high on laughter and a few more beers when he, Sam and Tony tumbled out of the bar laughing a couple hours later. The light rain cooled his overheated skin and a fresh fall breeze made him shudder in his light jacket.
“Man, we need to do this more often”, Sam sighed and hugged him. “Are you sure you don’t want to share a taxi with us?”
He nodded in response. “My bike is just around the corner. It’s way faster to drive the shortcut over campus than for the taxi to drive all the way around. Also, you need to go in the complete opposite direction.” He smiled up at his friend. “I’ll be alright.”
After hugging Tony, both boys got into one of the waiting taxis, making him promise to text them as soon as he got home safe. Still a smile on his face, Blaine wandered around the corner where several bikes stood leaning onto the outside wall of the bar while fumbling for his key in his back pocket. He spotted the red color of his bike immediately, shimmering wetly in the light of the streetlamp.
The rain was getting heavier and he thought to himself how glad he was that it would only be mere seven or eight minutes of riding his bike until he’d be home and could change into something warmer. He stopped as he bent down to open the lock, shaking his head and blinking multiple times but the sight in front of him didn’t change: There was his bike, one wheel still chained to the DIY-metal-construction the owner build for the bikes… the other one, though, was gone.
Nothing else, just the one wheel.
“Fuck…”, Blaine mumbled under his breath. It wasn’t unusual that bikes were stolen but who the fuck just steals one wheel? And why?
“Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!”, he swore to himself and got up again. Sure, he could walk, but while it was only a few minutes with his bike, walking to his dorm would probably take at least half an hour. Plus, the campus was practically dead at night and not lit properly, so he didn’t really feel comfortable walking home all by himself.
Drops of water started dripping from his hair down his face and neck, making their way under his shirt. Blaine pulled his jacket closer. He would also catch pneumonia if he walked.
Okay, taxi it is, he sighed and left his bike where it stood, deciding to come back tomorrow morning and take care of that. On his way back to the bar’s entrance, he got his wallet out and cursed again. No cash, awesome. He remembered handing over his last two 20-dollar-bills to Martha to pay for his drinks. How was he supposed to pay for the taxi?
He opened the door to the one car still standing in front of the bar. “Hi, I just realized I’m out of cash. Do you also accept cards?”, he asked the driver who didn’t even bother to look up from his phone, just shook his head. He sighed again and ran a hand through his now thoroughly wet hair as he closed the door again.
Just. Great.
The warm smell of beer and wood greeted him as soon as he re-entered the pub and went straight to the bar.
“Blaine”, Martha exclaimed, “I thought you left? You forgot something?”
“Someone stole the back wheel of my bike”, he sighed, “could you call me a taxi that accepts credit cards?”
“What? Oh poor boy… yeah, sure, I can try. Not sure how soon that’ll be, though.” She looked at her watch. “They are usually pretty busy around that time of night.”
Blaine slid onto one of the barstools. “I figured… would you call anyway? I really don’t feel comfortable walking back to the dorms by myself now. I’ll just wait here if that’s okay.”
“I could drive you.”
He turned around at the voice and for a moment, he thought he was hallucinating: Behind him stood Sebastian, the guy that had chatted him up earlier. The black leather jacket he wore now over his shirt was accentuating his slim figure and looked just as expensive as the rest of his clothing.
Sebastian pointed towards the door. “I was just leaving anyway and my car is around the corner.”
With a frown on his face, Blaine shook his head. “Yeah, no thanks. I get the idea a cab ride would cost me less than what you would ask from me.”
The other boy huffed a laugh and smirked. “You know, I’m up for whatever you wanna offer, gorgeous…”, he teased. His face turned serious, though, as soon as he saw Blaine roll his eyes. He shrugged his shoulders and buried his hands in his pockets. “No, I promise, no ulterior motives. I’ll drive you to your apartment and you don’t have to wait for at least half an hour until a taxi arrives.”
Martha raised one of his eyebrows. “Sounds like a plan to me…?”
Blaine sighed deeply. He really wanted to change into some dry clothes and go to bed – he was tired and shivering. Yet, the thought of being alone in a car with Sebastian still made him feel uneasy. What’s the alternative, though?
Sebastian was right, it would take at least half an hour before a taxi arrived. It might be 2015 but mobile card readers were still rare, even in a city as big as this one. Plus, even if Martha specifically asked for a driver who accepted cards, there was no guarantee they would actually send one who did. He could be waiting here for an hour…
After a few seconds of contemplating Sebastian’s offer, he glided down from the stool and smiled at Martha. “Alright, I guess it’s my best chance of getting home quickly. I’ll come and get my bike tomorrow morning.” He reached over and gently squeezed her hand that laid on top of the bar. “I’ll be okay. If I don’t come by, though, this”, he pointed at Sebastian, “is the face you need to describe to the police because then he will have suffocated me with awful jokes and sleazy innuendos.”
It was meant as a joke but Martha’s eyes flickered towards Sebastian, suddenly unsure. “Blaine…”, she drawled, her voice dropping so that only Blaine could hear her, “if you’re really uncomfortable, just let me call you a cab. It’s not an issue. Or let me talk to Joe for a minute and I’ll drive you up there real quick. We’re a family here, I’m sure he’d cover for me behind the bar for a bit.”
A warmth spread inside Blaine as his heart expanded at Martha’s offer. He quickly rounded the counter and took a step behind the bar to give her a hug. “You are so sweet, thank you.”
“You coming now or what?”, Sebastian sneered and rolled his eyes. “I promise, I’m not a serial killer…”
Blaine smiled and waved goodbye at Martha. “I’ll be okay, I’m sure he’s more bark than bite”. He thought he might’ve heard Sebastian mumble something under his breath but he didn’t understand.
They left the bar and walked to the parking lot in silence. When they turned the corner, Sebastian pressed the button on the car key and the lights of a beautiful black Mercedes turned on. Blaine huffed. Of course, Sebastian – probably around his age – would drive a car that’s worth more than what other people earn in a year.
It was a pretty nice car, though, he figured as soon as he sank into the soft leather seats. Sebastian turned up the heat, fastened his seatbelt and turned the key to start the car. Then he looked at him expectantly.
“Your address?”
“Oh, right. Umm, just turn right here and follow the street. We need to turn right again after the auditorium.”
The other boy nodded, and they both fell silent again. Blaine had to admit, this was way better than waiting for a taxi. The warmth of the heater crept under his clothes, making him relax into the seat. He couldn’t stifle the yawn that escaped him as he got comfortable.
“So…”, Sebastian spoke up, “you live in the dorms?”
Blaine nodded. “Yep.”
“Nice.”
Silence stretched between them again. Then, Sebastian sighed.
“Listen, I… I might’ve overstepped earlier. I didn’t want to make you feel… uncomfortable or something. You know. Wasn’t my intention.”
Blaine chuckled and turned his head so that he could look at Sebastian. “For an apology, that was quite a weak one. You’re not really good at this, right?”
He saw the other boy wince. “Yeah, I don’t… really do that often.”
“Apologize?”
“Yeah...”
“It’s pretty easy, to be honest. You just say: Hey, I’m sorry for being an ass, it would be okay if you wanted to slap me because I’ve been pretty rude.”
Sebastian glanced over at him for a moment. “Do you want to?”
“Slap you? No. I’m kind, I don’t do things like that.” A smirked tugged at the corners of his mouth. “But the offer would be nice…”
That made the other boy laugh. Blaine settled more into his seat and turned the rest of his body towards Sebastian. The tension between them slowly started melting away and he might’ve been tempted to say it started becoming even comfortable. “You’re not getting told ‘No’ much, right?”
Their eyes met and Sebastian raised an eyebrow. “That obvious?”
“Well… you’re strutting around in your designer clothes in a bar mostly known for cheap beer, acting like you own the place and everyone in it before driving in your way-too-expensive car to your probably way-too-expensive apartment filled with probably way-too-expensive furniture for someone still attending college. Let’s say, it doesn’t necessarily scream ‘humbleness’.” Blaine shrugged his shoulders and grinned. Weirdly enough, Sebastian grinned back.
“The clothes look nice on me, don’t tell me otherwise. I was at the bar with my friends. And the car was a gift from my father because in the cold-war that’s going on between him and my mother, I chose his Alma Mater over hers.” He pointed at him with a finger. “Plus, you haven’t even seen my apartment. I might remind you: I offered to show you but you refused.”
“But I’m right about it?”
“That’s not relevant.”
Blaine laughed. “So I am right.”
Sebastian just rolled his eyes and switched lanes. He rounded the corner after they passed the auditorium building and Blaine pointed ahead.
“The white building over there.”
The car came to a halt in front of the front door. “Thanks for the ride”, he said as he unfastened his seatbelt. “That was really nice.”
“No problem”, Sebastian answered.
Blaine knew he should open the door, get up and leave but something inside of him made him stay seated a little longer. Neither of them said a word for full 10 seconds that felt like ten minutes. Just as he finally decided to get out of the car, grabbed the handle and pushed the door open, he felt a hand come down on his knee.
“Umm, would you… I mean, I’d like to… uhhh…”
He tilted his head and turned his upper body back around. “I’m sorry, what?”
Sebastian seemed utterly irritated at his sudden bafflement. He scratched his ear. “I mean… I know, as far as first impressions go, I didn’t really leave much of a decent one. Still, you… I mean, you’re something else and I’d really like to get to know you. I guess.”
“You… guess?”
“Yes. I mean, no. I… I know. I’d like to take you out. There’s this French restaurant by the harbor… or anywhere you want, really”, he added when he saw Blaine raise an eyebrow.
He watched Sebastian’s face closely. A few hours ago when Sebastian had come flaunting into his life, he would’ve answered such a proposition with a passionate “Hell to the No” but now? He did find him incredibly attractive, he wasn’t blind… and it could be a trick of light or the light buzz of the beer still in his blood but there was something intriguing in Sebastian’s eyes. A vulnerability maybe, something that told Blaine there might be someone interesting behind all that cockiness.
He smiled at Sebastian. “I’m free tomorrow night? There’s a waffle house a few miles away that I wanted to try for ages.”
Sebastian blinks rapidly. “A… a waffle house?”
“Yeah, my friend said they make the best milkshakes ever.”
“Milkshakes…?” Blaine nodded. Sebastian nodded, too, just way slower. “Milkshakes, okay…”, he sighs. Then he looked up again. “Meet you here at seven?”
Blaine smiled. “It’s a date.” Then he opened the door and got out. Before he closed it again, he leaned in. “I’m Blaine, by the way.”
Sebastian smiled. “I know. The bartender called you that. I might be obnoxious but I do listen.”
Blaine laughed. “See you tomorrow.” He was just about to slam the door shut when Sebastian leaned over the passenger seat, smile gone and replaced by furrowed brows. “Wait, you didn’t give me your number!”
A grin spread on his face and he shook his head indulgently. “Oh, Sebastian… getting my number will take more than a free ride home and stuttering over asking me out. I’m not just some floozy!”, he winked, shut the car door and started walking towards his building with a sudden spring in his step.
He heard Sebastian protest from inside the car but just kept walking. Noone ever said ‘No’ to Sebastian? Well, he better gets used to it, he thought.
So, no, Sebastian’s and Blaine’s relationship didn’t start out starry eyed with love at first sight. Or even second. It doesn’t have much of the cliched romance you see in the movies – not back then, not now. Sebastian values honesty more than kindness, doesn’t believe in proclaiming your feelings for each other every day and keeps his problems close to his chest more often than not instead of sharing them which Blaine finds extremely unnerving.
Still, he couldn’t be more in love.
He’s learned to understand Sebastian’s harsh words as his armor, a shield to make sure no one ever gets close enough to hurt. A brick wall that crumbled as soon as Blaine decided to not be offended easily, showing Sebastian he wouldn’t chase him away and therefore softening the sharp edges more and more.
He’s learned to feel how much the other loves him in the small gestures. Whether it be a lingering kiss against his temple when Sebastian thinks no one is watching them or him bringing Blaine coffee from his favorite café when he’s stressed, irritated or sad. Sebastian always dismisses it, claiming the café was on his way to Blaine’s apartment anyway and that he just wanted to get a coffee for himself but Blaine knows better. He knows it is a detour and Sebastian’s lie is painfully obvious when the other always shows up with only one steaming hot cup, mumbling something about having finished his own in his car. The small smile Sebastian can’t suppress when Blaine takes the cup and kisses his boyfriend’s cheek in thanks is a telltale sign, too.
He’s also learned to see the little signs that tell him something bothers the other. It’s in the way his hand searches for his touch more often, how he doesn’t grumble when Blaine snuggles close in bed at night but holds him tight or how he notices Sebastian’s lips to be more chapped from him constantly nibbling on it.
Sebastian is not a Disney prince. He’s better – he’s real.
Blaine flinches as two strong arms wind around his middle from behind. Sebastian props his chin on his shoulder and smiles at him when their eyes meet in the mirror where Blaine had been buttoning up his coat until he got lost in thought.
“What are you thinking about so hard?”
He smiles back and leans his head gently to the side, their temples touching. “I just can’t believe it’s already been three years.” He rests his right hand over Sebastian’s and wriggles his fingers in between the spaces. “And now, I’m about to head to my graduation party with the guy whose first words to me were ‘You naked would match my bed sheets’.”
Sebastian winces at the memory and closes his eyes. “You promised we’d never talk about that again.”
“No, no, no – you said: ‘Let’s never talk about that again’. I never agreed!”
The arms around his waist tighten slightly and Sebastian kisses his cheek before he whispers a “You’re a pain in the ass…” into his ear. Blaine grins and turns around in his arms.
“Yeah, but I’m your pain in the ass.” He sees Sebastian roll his eyes at that and lays his arms around the other’s neck. “Come on – it’s a funny story. Me, desperate because of a wicked bike-wheel thief – you, my villain turned into knight in a shiny black Mercedes. Really, it’s the kind of stuff they make movies about! Oh, or a musical! What do you think, should we try to find our Lin-Manuel Mirandas phone number? What’s he been up to after ‘In The Heights’, anyway, he surely has time, don’t you think?”
Sebastian shakes his head. “First of all: You are ridiculous. I definitely regret taking you home that night now.”
“Only that you didn’t take me home.”
“Your home. You quite rudely refused mine.”
Blaine laughs. “Well, you did only want me for one night.”
“And look at us know: As soon as I gave you more than one, you just never left again.”
Blaine pouts. “You’re mean…”
Sebastian brushes the tip of his nose against his. “Come on, we have to hurry up. Your Mom will smack me again if we’re late.”
“Whatever she did it for, I’m sure she was right.” Blaine presses a quick kiss against Sebastian’s lips and steps out of the embrace. “Have you seen my cufflinks? They were on the dresser.” He looks around, his eyes searching the bedroom for the jewelry box.
“Well, you could just use those instead…”
Blaine turns around again and sees Sebastian open a black velvet box. Inside are two silver cufflinks, music notes engraved in them. “Seb…”, he scolds but can’t stop his voice from softening, “we said no presents.” He reaches for one of them. “Those look really expensive…”
Sebastian only shrugs his shoulders and puts the box with the remaining cufflink on the dresser. Then he takes the other out of Blaine’s hand, pushes it through the hole at Blaine’s wrist and smiles down at him. “Something this beautiful deserves to be seen on someone worth of its beauty.”
Turning his wrist, the silver sparkles in the light and Blaine looks up. “You just quoted Chuck Bass on me.”
“Did it work?”
“Kinda”, Blaine chuckles and takes Sebastian’s hand. “Nonetheless: You, Sir, get a 50-dollar-limit for my next birthday. “ He steps closer when Sebastian gasps. “You should return them tomorrow, I can’t have you spend so much.”
“But you’re graduating…”
“And I am perfectly fine with a dozen roses and you by my side tonight as a gift.”
Sebastian cocks his head. “You don’t like them.”
He glances down at his hand with a longing look. “Quite the opposite, I love them. But I recognize Harry Winston-jewelry when I see it and I can imagine the price.”
Sebastian reaches for his wrist and gently swipes his thumb over the cufflink. “They aren’t even this season’s, they were practically for free…almost…”, he tries but sighs when he sees Blaine raise an eyebrow. “Fine. I’ll return them.”
Blaine cups Sebastian’s cheek. “Thanks.” Sebastian keeps thumbing over his wrist. “Okay, fine. If you really wanna buy me something, let’s check out that second hand shop at St. John’s Street tomorrow. They have some nice jewelry but at a price where I don’t have to wonder for how many people I could pay rent in this city if I sold one of them. Deal?”
Sebastian lips twitch and he rolls his eyes. “Fine. I doubt they have something as exquisite as this”, he grins down at Blaine, “though to be honest: You could probably wear some leftover wire and make it look like straight from a high end fashion show.”
Blaine shakes his head, reaches for the second cufflinks and puts it on. Then he grabs his jacket with one hand and pulls at Sebastian’s arm with the other. “Come on, or we’re gonna be late and my Mum’s gonna smack you again.” Without looking back, he adds “An we wouldn’t want her to ruin your 100-dollar-haircut”, grin evident in his voice.
“200, actually…”, Sebastian grumbles and Blaine only laughs. Sometimes he doesn’t know how he fell for this snotty, spoiled rich kid.
But then he sees Sebastian’s wide grin in the audience as he accepts his certificate from the dean, hears him whistling and howling like he’s a rockstar before he leaves the stage. As he slips back into the row where he’s sitting, Sebastian hugs him so tight, he almost can’t breathe and murmurs in his ear “I am so, so proud of you” in between kisses.
And he knows.
Disney princes were for kids, anyways.