Holy majoley sweet mary mother of god. Just. Wow. I can not believe the reviews that I've gotten from this fic. Just. Thank you so much for your feedback! It means the world to me. I read all of them and was pleased by how many of you enjoyed the protective side of Sebastian. Please keep reviewing and letting me know what you think! I love to know your thoughts :D P.S. Sorry about the lateness! Next update should be much much sooner.

Enjoy!

Kurt is gripping his phone like a life-line as he stands before Dalton's large and intimidating doors once more. He opens up his contact lists and finds the one number he wants. Kurt thought he could do this without calling him, but he's too nervous and he needs some reassurance.

"Kurt?" Sebastian's smooth voice asks through his phone. Sebastian, earlier that morning, had texted him and admitted he bribed Blaine to give him Kurt's number. They didn't mention what happened the previous Tuesday night despite the fact that Kurt could tell Sebastian wanted to. He's fairly certain it will be brought up the next time they speak face-to-face.

"Yeah," Kurt breathes out and swallows.

"Hey now, don't be worried about the interview!" Sebastian tells him and Kurt isn't even surprised that Sebastian knows exactly what he's feeling right now.

"I'm not worried!" he squeaks and he can almost hear Sebastian's eye rolls.

"Stop it, Kurt! You wouldn't have even gotten an interview if Dalton didn't think you were good enough. You're going to be fine!"

"Can you come and see me?" Kurt asks softly, his voice weak as he walks shakily up the stairs through the doors. Perhaps Seb an help to calm his nerves. He wouldn't possibly bring up last night before this interview, would he?

"I really want to, Angel, but I have a short Warblers meeting in a couple of minutes. I can meet you afterwards?"

"I'd love that," Kurt says and feels only a small amount of dread at the conversation they'll no doubt have. The term of endearment numbs the fear slightly.

"It's – " Sebastian clears his throat, "it's good to hear your voice, Kurt."

"You too," Kurt says softly and wonders for a moment why his chest is aching so much. He strolls slowly in the direction of the front office. The two of them are silent.

"I have to go," Sebastian says finally and Kurt sits down on a leather chair in the waiting bay of the office.

"Okay. I'll see you soon?" Kurt replies and licks his lips. There's a strange, undefinable tension between them. Kurt doesn't understand it, however, he doesn't question it.

"Yes, most definitely. Good luck, Kurt," Sebastian tells him and Kurt smiles softly.

"Thank you, Sebastian," Kurt murmurs before hanging up. He stares as the phone in his hand. He closes his eyes for a moment and pictures Sebastian clear in his mind. He pictures his smile, his eyes, his hair and he hears his voice. It comforts him, gives him strength and helps him breathe.

He opens his eyes and steadily gets to his feet and strides over to the front desk where he meets a grey-haired woman called Sandy who was extremely cheerful.

"Oh, just wait in here, sweetie. Mr. McGregor will see you shortly," she says, pointing over to the chairs lined against the wall that Kurt just moved from. He smiles gratefully and sits gingerly in one of the chairs. This whole situation seems surreal. Kurt's fingers are tapping repeatedly against his iPhone screen, a nervous habit of his. He's controlling his breathing and attempting to zone out the soft chit-chat of the other office ladies and the tapping noise of fingers against a keyboard.

Kurt has barely been waiting five minutes when a tall, balding man strides into the office, a black, obviously tailored suit, with a black tie.

"Kurt Hummel?" he asks and Kurt rushes to stand up. He shoves his phone is his pocket and steps over to the older man who is smiling gently.

"Yes, sir," Kurt replies, faking confidence.

"I'm Mr. McGregor. It's nice to meet you," the man says and holds out his hand for Kurt to shake. He does so, and the Mr. McGregor's grip is not painfully tight, but almost comfortable. Kurt can see that his brown eyes are warm and kind, however his presence is still intimidating. The tall man before him is basically the difference between him enjoying his final years of high school or not, because it would be impossible for him to enjoy being bullied and abused. Kurt shakes that thought from his mind.

"You too," Kurt says politely.

"Come on. We'll head to my office," Mr. McGregor says and Kurt follows him out of the waiting area, walks down a small corridor before turning right into his office. It's lusciously decorated, with numerous art works and several framed photographs around the room. "Take a seat, Mr. Hummel."

Kurt sat in the leather chair across from Mr. McGregor's fancy desk piled with numerous papers and folders and placed his bag on the ground next to him.

"So, Kurt," he says and clears his throat. He glances at a couple of pieces of paper and realised that he must have contacted Figgins at McKinley and gotten his records. "Why don't you tell me a bit about yourself first?"

"Well…" Kurt began.

Thirty two minutes later Kurt emerged from the principal's office extremely confident. The whole interview had gone wonderful, if Kurt said so himself. He was polite and Mr. McGregor was very pleased with all his grades, including his scores in his languages, as well as his extra-curricular activities.

"You'll be hearing from me soon, Kurt," he had said as he explained, with a hint of a smile on his face, that he would need to go over facts and such before he could make a final decision. Things were looking tremendously promising.

Kurt pulls out his phone and is about to start typing a text when two hands squeezed at his waist. He jumps in shock and turns around to see Sebastian's smiling brightly, his eyes shining with happiness.

"Hey, stranger," Sebastian says brightly and Kurt resists the urge to throw his arms around him.

"Hey!" Kurt says dumbly, feeling sheer and total happiness at seeing him again, in the flesh, and Sebastian's eyes flicker to 's closed door.

"How'd it go? Did he love you? When do you find out?" Seb rattles off, firing questions out one right after the other and Kurt throws his head back and laughs at his eagerness.

"It went well, I think. I don't think I'd go that far and he said I'd get a phone call by the end of the day," Kurt answers the questions consecutively.

"See! I was right. Nothing to worry about!" Sebastian poked him and Kurt rolls his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah," he mutters. "I haven't gotten accepted yet."

"Yet," Sebastian teases and Kurt just brushes him off.

"What are you doing now?" Kurt asks Sebastian as they head off out of the office area.

"I'm with you," he says simply and such words shouldn't have such an affect on Kurt, but they do. They affect him a lot and he almost stumbles over his own feet.

"And after that?"

Sebastian looks at him and Kurt can't quite read the expression on his face. When their gaze holds for a few moments, Sebastian breaks it, turning away and shrugging.

"It's Friday night. I don't know what I'll do yet," he says, basically brushing it off.

"Surely you have some plans to go out," Kurt replies, not believing that Sebastian would waste a Friday night and not go out to Scandals or some other obscure gay bar in the surrounding towns.

"I'm not sure if I want to go out tonight," Sebastian says, vague as ever and it deters Kurt. He's not used to seeing Sebastian act like this, "I think I might be in better company with someone else rather than another faceless body from a club."

"Oh," Kurt says softly, shooting himself. Sebastian does have plans.

With someone else.

Of course.

He doesn't fully understand why there's that hole of disappointment inside him but it burns white hot and scars his insides.

When Kurt doesn't say anything else, Sebastian looks at him and elbows him lightly.

"The company is you, silly," Sebastian tells him and Kurt must resemble a fish out of water because he has become incapable of a proper response. Sebastian laughs at him and Kurt pulls himself together and wacks the Warbler on the arm playfully.

"Shut up. I'm not used to having people interested in doing things with me," Kurt explains and Sebastian gives him a sad look. "Don't. I know what you're thinking and just. Don't."

They are silent for a few more minutes as they stroll aimlessly through Dalton. It's after school and the hallways are mostly empty. Kurt tries to focus on the artworks and detail of the school and not what Sebastian is probably going to bring up next. He can feel the other boy's eyes on him, burning into him, his soul and he can feel the sympathy, the pity. He hates it. He hates feeling like this, making others feel what they do.

"Kurt –" Sebastian starts to say but Kurt stops him quickly, standing in front of him and looking at him right in the eyes. He's distracted for only a moment before he starts talking.

"I know what you're going to say and I don't want you to." Sebastian looks confused, which, in turn, confuses Kurt. He continues anyway. "I know you're going to mention Karofsky and the other boys and everything but –"

"Kurt, I was –"

"No, shush. I don't want you to feel burdened. I –"

"I was going to ask if you wanted to have dinner or something!" Sebastian yells out and Kurt's mouth snaps shut, his eyes as wide as Saturn.

"I – what?"

Sebastian rubs the back of his neck and looks sheepish.

"I mean, we could just grab some pizza or Chinese takeout but if you're not busy –"

"I'm not," Kurt says quickly and there's a glimpse of a smile on Seb's lips before he tries to look nonchalant.

"Oh okay, sweet," Sebastian starts to say but then Kurt's phone starts to ring.

"Sorry," Kurt says quickly before answering. "Kurt Hummel speaking."

Sebastian walks ahead a few steps to give him some privacy but he turns around when he hears the name 'Blaine.'

Why is Blaine calling Kurt?

"Tickets?" He hears Kurt saying and his hope for tonight drops. It shouldn't, because it was just dinner, but it does and Sebastian doesn't linger on that thought. He doesn't want to. He doesn't want to think about how Kurt has affected him in such a short amount of time.

When Kurt finishes the call he jogs up to Sebastian.

"Look, something's come up," Kurt says and Sebastian just smirks.

"Not yet it hasn't," he throws back with a wink and Kurt splutters and blushes.

"Shut up. I'm sorry, it's just that Blaine got tickets for us and – " Sebastian stops him before the talk to Blaine makes him vomit.

"No big deal. I just feel sorry for you," Sebastian says and Kurt frowns.

"Why?"

"Because now you have to spend a night with Blaine the Boring," he jokes and Kurt's mouth drops open and he laughs.

"You were listening! And don't call him that! You might find him boring but I don't." Kurt looks at him like he was the one insulted.

"That's because he's a new, shiny, gay toy," Sebastian tells him and Kurt looks at him blankly before laughing again.

"Not again with this! Honestly, Sebastian, you need to get over this problem you have with Blaine," Kurt manages to get out past his laughter. "I'm friends with him and you'll need to be able to tolerate him because he'll probably come up in conversation."

Sebastian just groans. He doesn't understand the appeal of Blaine. Blaine is boring. Blaine is Plain. Blaine is…not Sebastian and that means is going out with Kurt tonight.

Sebastian is not.

"Whatever, Hummel," Sebastian retorts without emotion, heart no longer in the mood to insult Blaine.

"Oh don't get snooty with me Sebastian! I'm allowed to have friends!" Kurt growls back, clearly annoyed now.

"I never said you weren't!"

"You're acting like an immature child who hasn't learnt to share!"

"Maybe because I don't want to share you!" Sebastian yells, throwing his arms up in frustration. The two fall silent, staring at each other, chests rising. There's tension in the air Sebastian can't name but it's enveloping him.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing."

"Sebastian…" Kurt warns and Sebastian just gives him a sad, weary look and shakes his head.

"It was nothing, Kurt. You should go home and get ready for Blaine," he spits out, the name Blaine like acid on his tongue.

Kurt loses it. It's not fair.

"Don't give me attitude! You told me from day one that you don't do boyfriends, Sebastian. What am I supposed to do?" Seb opens his mouth to answer but finds no words. Kurt's right. He doesn't do boyfriends. They never work. They never last. "Don't get snappy just because I'm spending time with another boy, which is clearly your issue. Nevermind that it's Blaine, it's that it's a boy. That's what's really bothering you and it's not fair on me, Sebastian."

"Yeah," Sebastian agrees breathlessly, unable to focus on anything but angry, frustrated wonderful Kurt in front of him. "Yeah, no, you're right. Go with Blaine. Have fun."

He's being sincere because Kurt is totally right. He hates to admit it, but he is.

Kurt stares at him like he's deranged.

"What is wrong with you?"

"What do you want from me, Kurt?" Sebastian asks back, his voice rising, frustration levels reaching their limit.

"I could ask you the same question! You've been sending me mixed signals since we first met!"

"Oh, come off it, Kurt!" Sebastian scoffs and Kurt shakes his head at him.

"Do you realise what you're doing? What you're saying? You're jealous, Sebastian," Kurt informs him loudly and Sebastian takes a step back, the look on his face unreadable.

"No, I'm not!" he says quickly in defence. Kurt blinks at him.

"You're jealous that I'm spending time with another boy. A boy that isn't you and you're jealous." He re-adjusts his bag and moves past Sebastian who is frozen in place.

"I am not! You're perfectly able to date whomever you want!" Sebastian calls out after Kurt who is headed for the front doors who turns at his words.

"Have a nice night, Sebastian," Kurt says softly and looks at him sadly for a moment before walking outside.

Sebastian tries to shake off Kurt's words, but they echo around in his head and make it hard to think about anything else. In fact, when he gets home and stumbles up to his room he was still thinking about them. He wasn't jealous he was just…

Sebastian sighs on his bed where he laid and rubs the palms of his hands over his eyes. He couldn't handle this right now. Conflicting emotions made it hard for him to think, to process things clearly.

He closed his eyes, reminding himself that it was afternoons like this that drove him to one-night stands.

Emotions just ruined things.

He dreams of angels.

As Sebastian was dreaming, Blaine and Kurt pull up out the front of Kurt's house. Blaine was smiling brightly, as he had for most of the evening, and Kurt could barely look at him.

"Thanks for inviting me tonight, Blaine. I really enjoyed it," Kurt lies, with a smile. Blaine's eyes light up even farther.

"I'm really glad, Kurt," Blaine responds and places his hand on Kurt's. Kurt looks down in shock.

"Blaine, I –" he hesitates. Kurt isn't quite sure what he wants to say. Blaine just looks so hopeful and it wasn't like the evening was bad it just…

Blaine isn't Sebastian.

Kurt should stop lying to himself, should stop hiding what he feels but it's such a natural thing now, hiding his feelings towards other boys. It would feel strange to be so honest, to expose himself like he would need to.

Blaine see's his mistake, however, and removes his hand quickly, his face burning and the smile disappearing.

"Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to –" Blaine apologises, not looking Kurt in the eyes.

"It's not your fault," Kurt says quickly. "I just…"

He doesn't know what to say.

"I understand," Blaine says and Kurt realises that he sounds sad, disappointed. "Sebastian's not like anyone else."

Kurt's mouth drops open for a moment before Kurt snaps it shut again.

"This isn't about Sebastian," Kurt tells him, forehead burrowing in but Blaine just looks at him.

"You don't have to say anything, Kurt. I understand. I do," he admits and looks down and swallows hard before looking Kurt in the eye. "I hope Sebastian treats you as well as I would."

Kurt is unable to say anything. He silently exits the car and wanders into his house. He wonders, as he collapses on his bed, when did he become the hypocrite? When did he become the one unable to talk about his feelings? The ones that he's tried hard to pretend didn't exist?

When did he realise he wanted to be with Sebastian Smythe?

Even worse:

What did he do now?

When Kurt manages to sleep, he dreams of falling.

Thoughts? :) Loveeeeee