Pairing: Kurtbastian
Rating: NC-17
Summary: Kurt Hummel finds an unexpected acquaintance with Sebastian Smythe after a tough break-up. He tries to keep their fling a strict Friends with Benefits situation, but Sebastian starts to break through his carefully guarded walls, even though he isn't necessarily an open book, either.

A/N: This is it. The last chapter. This was the first fic I ever wrote for Glee and it had been a long time since I wrote anything in the first place. I'm extremely nervous to be finishing it up, but I hope you all like it, and even if you don't, feel free to leave some honest reviews. I feel so grateful for every single person who has taken the time to read this. I've got a few other things in the works right now, Kurtbastian and Klaine stuff. I don't think I've mentioned it, but my tumblr is hideunspoken if anyone wants to follow and maybe drop an ask in my box. Thank you all so much for your support and enjoy the last chapter!

"Seb still sleeping?" Sadie asked as she descended from the stairs, fully dressed and ready to go as she joined Kurt in the kitchen. Kurt was sitting at a stool by the counter, sipping his coffee and flipping through the latest issue of Vogue. Any of the lingering awkwardness he felt when he first started staying over a majority of the week had faded and he felt extremely at ease in Sebastian's home, likely due to Sadie's and Sebastian's mother's overwhelming welcomeness.

"Of course. I'm deciding whether or not he'd want me to wake him up to say good-bye. I have quite the to-do list to take care of at home."

"He'd want you to wake him up," Sadie insisted. "He likes you too much to let you go without a good-bye."

"You think?"

"Of course, Kurt," Sadie responded with a roll of her eyes. "You two are so ridiculous, I swear."

"What does that mean? Do you talk to him about…me and him?" Kurt asked tentatively, turning his focus back to his coffee as nonchalantly as possible.

"Seb and I have always discussed boys. Usually it's me dominating the conversations, but we still talked about some of the guys he's…seen when he used to go out."

"Used to? He doesn't go out anymore?"

"Well, obviously."

"Huh." Kurt pondered the idea for a moment that Sebastian hadn't been going out for quite a while now.

"You seem surprised. He's spends most of his time with you. When would he have gone out?"

"We aren't together all the time," Kurt pointed out. "And he did just 'go out' not so long ago, the night before the…incident with you at that party."

"Did you just use air quotes for 'go out?'" Sadie questioned and Kurt immediately clutched his hands together in his lap.

"If you know Bas as well as you seem to, then you know exactly what lies behind the euphemism of 'go out.'"

"You think he's still sleeping with other people?"

"I'm sure he is, but don't get me wrong or anything, Sadie. We aren't…exclusive or anything. And I'll remind you again of the night before the 'incident,'" Kurt said, allowing himself the use of air quotes once more.

"What are you talking about?" Sadie asked. "He went to Nick's the night before…you know, the incident."

Kurt paused for a moment while that sank in. Sebastian didn't actually go out that night. He'd certainly made it seem that way, Kurt thought. Or maybe that was just his imagination getting away from him and making the situation seem worse than it was.

"Nick's?"

Sadie hummed in confirmation. "I don't think it's much of a secret, seeing as Nick is his best friend and all." Kurt just nodded in acknowledgement, but he was past focusing on her. Sebastian was…what? Not going out to clubs anymore? Not sleeping with anyone else? Kurt could admit to being happy about this. Even though the two had never stated their exclusivity by any means, Kurt didn't think he'd ever be the type of person to sleep with multiple people around the same time. Sebastian, on the other hand…

Kurt couldn't help the inexplicable little glow in his chest at knowing that maybe he'd misjudged Sebastian. He'd been holding himself back for weeks, now—months, really—because he'd thought Sebastian was nowhere near capable of anything resembling commitment and exclusivity. Kurt was just a reliable lay, and he forced himself to not think too hard about Sebastian's tendency to inch his way into Kurt's life with the cuddling and talking and domesticity of waking up next to each other almost every morning and sometimes planning their days together.

It was silly, really, how this small fact changed Kurt's perspective, but he couldn't help but actually allow himself a little hope. For what, exactly, he didn't know, but it was hope for something, surely.

Kurt was interrupted from his thoughts with the sharp trill of his ringtone. He glanced down wistfully at his now-cold coffee and picked up his phone from the counter. Sadie watched him from the kitchen table, now spooning cereal into her mouth.

"Hey, Kiddo," Burt's voice rang out before Kurt could say a word.

"Hey, Dad."

"Finn says you're at Sebastian's?"

"Yep," Kurt replied. Burt had long accepted that Kurt spent most of his weekend nights at Sebastian's house, as long as he came home for family bonding time during the days.

"Hey, I was thinking," Burt began and Kurt immediately sensed a task that he didn't want to do on the horizon. "Why don't you bring Sebastian over for dinner? You're probably gonna go over there afterwards, anyway, right?"

"I…don't know about that, Dad."

A "meet the parents" dinner was not exactly how Kurt wanted to spend his evening, and even more, he didn't want to subject Sebastian to that. Sure, he'd met Burt that awful day of the "nap incident," as Kurt called it in his head, and they'd crossed paths a few times when he and Sebastian lost track of time or Burt came back a little early. None of these events really measured up to what Burt was asking now, though. This was a fully-fledged, formal, "Dad, let's interrogate and learn more about the guy I've been sleeping with and spending an increasing amount of time with."

"Come on now, Kurt. You're over there most of the time or he's over here when I'm in D.C. I think he can handle one dinner over here, don't you think?"

"I just don't think he'd really—"

"Now, now," Burt interrupted. "Don't go blaming him for you not wanting to bring him over. Will you just ask him if he'd come? Just a simple dinner, I promise. I just want to know the kid you're so involved with."

Kurt cringed a little at the word "involved."

"I'll ask him, Dad, but I won't try and force him to say yes."

"Just make a little persuasive argument, okay? Blame it on Carole; she thinks he needs a little fattening up. She's using the good cheese on her casserole tonight."

"Okay, fine," Kurt relented. "I'll try to persuasively ask him for you, but don't think I won't be monitoring your portion control with that good cheese, now." Burt chuckled at that.

"Nothing gets past you, does it?" Kurt smiled into the phone, exchanging good-byes with his father before setting his phone back down.

"You going up, now?" Sadie asked as she rinsed her bowl in the sink. Kurt nodded, dumping the remains of his coffee and doing the same.

"Yep. I'm gonna go invite him to dinner with my dad, now."

"Well, have fun with that. And Kurt?" He turned from his advance to the stairs. "Will you not mention anything we talked about? I'm not betraying any huge secrets or privacy or anything, but Seb doesn't let people in easy or talk about what's going on in his head. You're kind of the same way and, honestly, I just had to get one of you to listen to me. You two are driving me crazy."

Kurt cocked his head a little, mildly confused, but he nodded in answer. Before he could say anything, Sadie ordered, "Now, go! Go wake up your man. And meanwhile, to give you privacy, I am going to grab my purse and go to the mall with Kate, in case Seb asks." She rounded the counter, giving Kurt a quick peck on the cheek before slinking out of the room.

Kurt made a persuasive argument, alright, one involving more sex than Burt had probably meant for, even though Sebastian was going to say yes even without the rimming and blow job. Regardless, the two were sated, dressed, and in their cars two hours later, planning an early arrival to Kurt's.

Upon arrival, Carole lived up to the expectation of fawning over Sebastian, telling him how he was too thin, and was expected to have seconds at dinner. She played the role of mediator perfectly, taking care of Burt's role in the conversation and making sure he didn't say anything threatening or embarrassing. It was extremely appreciated by Kurt, who was still remembering his father's first meeting with Sebastian.

Sebastian, almost surprisingly, was the perfect gentleman. He complimented Carole on their home and successfully deflected Burt's muttering about how he'd seen and slept there many nights throughout the summer.

It wasn't until they had excused themselves to Kurt's room for a bit while they waited for dinner to be ready that trouble arose.

Kurt had threaded his fingers through Sebastian's leading the way, even though Sebastian certainly knew. Kurt flopped down on his bed once the door was closed, attempting to pull Sebastian down with him, but the other boy resisted. He rolled over reluctantly to see why Sebastian hesitated. One look was enough to tell Kurt that something was very wrong.

"What the hell is all of this?" Sebastian gestured around the room.

Kurt's eyes followed Sebastian's hand, surveying the messier-than-normal room, complete with highly stacked boxes, mostly half-way full and with detailed labels.

"Boxes," Kurt stated the obvious.

"I can fucking see that," Sebastian huffed. "You're…what? Packing?" Kurt watched him curiously, observing the sudden hardness on Sebastian's face, set in lines and closing off. His hands locked stiffly by his side and he wouldn't even look Kurt in the eye, instead choosing to focus on the boxes around him.

"Well, yeah. You know I'm going to New York. Rachel and I leave pretty soon."

"How soon is 'pretty soon?'"

"Two weeks," Kurt whispered, watching Sebastian get only more infuriated.

"Why the fuck didn't you tell me? Two fucking weeks? What, were you just going to disappear to New York one day and send me a text 'oh, by the way, I moved. Going to miss Sunday brunch with your mom.'"

"Bas, I don't get why you're getting upset. You knew I was moving to New York eventually. It's not like we talked about futures together. I mean, come on—"

"Yeah, eventually. You said 'eventually.' School doesn't start for over a month. I thought we had more time to talk about it, but here you are. Packing. Leaving, without saying a damn thing," Sebastian explained, tension rolling off him in waves. He finally brought himself to look at Kurt, now sitting carefully on the edge of the bed, his expression blank.

"Sebastian. Stop being ridiculous. It's not like this was more than a summer fling, right? Even when you do go to NYU in a month or so, it's not like it matters. It's not like we matter. It'll be New York with its hundreds of gay bars for you to revel in, thousands of gay men to fuck. That's the future, Bas, not us," Kurt choked out and as soon as the words left his mouth he regretted them. He's just being self-preservative, he told himself. He can't go through getting his heart crushed again for the second time in one summer, which would be an inevitability with Sebastian, right?

Regardless of his wishes, Kurt found himself hurting, his heart clenching and twisting painfully as he saw Sebastian's face crumple, his mask visibly cracking and breaking for Kurt to see.

"That's all you think of me? Even after all this fucking time of talking and being together and you think I'm just some worthless slut," Sebastian spit out, his voice raising and Kurt was sure Burt and Carole could hear them now.

"Bas—"

"No, Kurt. I get it. I'm just fooling myself, aren't I? I know I'm no fucking master of relationships, but how stupid of me to not see this coming? You don't give a shit that I actually fucking care about you and want to still be with you when we're in New York. Why am I surprised? You forgot Blaine so easily. How did I think I'd be any different?" Sebastian huffed a few deep breaths, his heart racing wildly as he fought to keep the tears that were swimming in his eyes in place.

Kurt was shocked into silence, watching Sebastian's chest heave as he pressed the heels of his hands to his eyes. "Fuck this," Sebastian muttered, throwing his hands into the air in frustrated exasperation.

"Bas," Kurt's voice broke on the name, struck by the tears falling from Sebastian's eyes that he seemed to vehemently ignore as he turned roughly, tugging the door open and stalking out of the house. Kurt jumped from his bed and followed quickly, calling Sebastian's name. He ignored Burt and Carole's concerned looks as he pushed past them into the front yard, watching Sebastian open his car door.

"Sebastian. Just…stop. Please," Kurt cried.

Sebastian ignored him, grumbling, "It doesn't matter, remember?" before getting into his car and driving off, ignoring Kurt's continued cries out to him until he rounded the corner and Kurt was left sobbing behind him.

"He won't come down," Sadie informed him upon returning to the front door. Kurt ran his fingers through his hair and let out a frustrated groan.

"Did you tell him I wanted to apologize?"

Sadie nodded.

"Fuck. I've probably sent him a dozen texts and called twice as much in the past two hours. I just need him to listen to me."

"I did everything I could to convince him to just come down and talk to you, but he wouldn't. He made some pretty big threats if I let you in, too. He's being childish," Sadie proclaimed.

"No, he's not. I get it. I just don't like it."

"What'd you do, Kurt?"

"Really fucked things up. Said things I don't mean."

Sadie enveloped him in a hug, her thin arms wrapping around his waist as she squeezed tight. "You should keep trying to fix things," she told him. "I haven't seen Seb this upset in a while, but I think it's just because he cares about you so much."

Her words sent a whole new pang of pain to his chest. He wanted to fix it, but he just needed Sebastian to just listen to him. An idea flitted to his mind that was a little crazy and spontaneous, but was just enough to give him a little optimism. He pulled away from Sadie and said his good-byes, trying not to focus on the fact that if his next plan didn't work, it was likely the last time he'd be seeing her. She gave him a small smile and wave before closing the door as he bounded down the steps, intent on his new plan.

Kurt circled his way around the house until he found the correct location and a vaguely familiar drain pipe. His resolve wavered slightly. Climbing up the pipe looked like it was going to prove much more challenging than shimmying down was and the roof looked impossibly high. Was this really the same way he exited Sebastian's room months ago at the beginning of summer? The alcohol must have really altered his point of view that night because there were about twenty different scenarios running through his head of exactly how badly this could end.

Pushing them all out of his mind, Kurt dragged in a steeling breath and latched his fingers as high as he could, jumping slightly to clutch his knees on the pipe as well. He began a push-and-pull type of system, bending and pulling his arms at the elbows to release and latch his legs higher before pushing up again and again, grunting with each pull.

If Sebastian could see him now, he'd probably be making some crack at Kurt's future career possibilities as a stripper.

The unexpected laughter that bubbled in Kurt's chest almost made him lose his grip for a quick second. Sobering quickly, he made his way near the top, stopping to catch his breath before eyeing the roof that he was now at level with. It was just a few feet, but Kurt hadn't quite realized how terrifying it would be to release his clutch on the pipe with his legs, fully supporting his weight with only his hands and inner forearms that were pressed tightly against the pipe to reach over with his leg and place a foot on the rooftop.

He fought every urge to just slide back down the pipe and, figuring that at least if he fell, he might be able to guilt Sebastian into visiting him in the hospital, he adjusted his weight, leg reaching to his right, finally finding purchase on the roof beside him. With a push off the pipe and a shift of his leg, Kurt brought his other foot to the roof, stumbling slightly to grip at the wall and catch his breath, fear, adrenaline, and now anticipation shooting through his veins.

Kurt took in a deep, calming breath, straightening out of his awkward crouch and shuffling his feet to the right until he was facing Sebastian's curtain-covered window. He hesitated for only a second before firmly knocking. He heard a high-pitched squeak from the other side of the window and failed at muffling his laughter at the image of Sebastian making that frightened squeal. When nothing happened, Kurt knocked again, calling out, "Sebastian?"

The curtains immediately flung open to reveal a baffled Sebastian in an old lacrosse shirt from his school in Paris and ratty sweatpants. Kurt couldn't remember Sebastian ever wearing a shirt around the house since they'd started seeing each other. Maybe they were his comfort clothes.

"Kurt? What the fuck are you doing?" Sebastian called through the closed window.

"I'm taking an evening stroll. What the fuck do you thing I'm doing?" Kurt bit out sarcastically. "I'm trying to get you to fucking talk to me."

"Hasn't me not answering your calls or texts and not letting you in my house made it pretty clear that I don't want to talk?"

"Oh, it's very clear, thank you. That doesn't mean I'm going to listen. I need you to listen to me."

"Well, that's awfully one-sided. Though, hasn't this whole thing been?"

"Damn it, Sebastian. Will you just let me in? I want to explain and apologize and I can't do that where I'm in constant fear of falling off your roof. Please? Let me in?" Kurt pleaded, voice going so soft that he wasn't sure if Sebastian could hear his last words.

Sebastian stared at him for a full thirty agonizing seconds before unlocking and pulling open the window. Kurt hoisted himself in gratefully.

They stood staring at each other for a moment before Sebastian prompted, "So?"

"I—fuck, Bas. I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have said what I did. I didn't mean it. You're not worthless and you're not a slut. I'm—I'm sorry. I swear, I had this whole speech planned, but it's all just coming out as 'I'm sorry.' I just—I figured that when I left that'd be it. I mean, you don't generally come across as the 'relationship type' and I figured you weren't going to want to be tied down in New York and I'm not even positive how I feel about that. I want to experience New York and I'm sure you do, too. I just…figured I'd beat you to the punch of breaking everything off."

"Look, Kurt," Sebastian began. "I know that for a lot of the time you and Blaine knew me in high school you saw me a certain way. I was an ass and I still am most of the time, but I just really thought that in this whole summer we spent together you would've known me better. Yeah, okay, when we met I was making jokes about hooking up with random guys in clubs, and yeah, it happened on more occasions than I'd like to go on about, but that doesn't mean I fit in that box. That type of person who does that and only that. I mean, I'm only eighteen. It shouldn't be that weird that this is my first real relationship. It's not like I'm some thirty year old guy who still doesn't want a boyfriend."

"I really like you, Kurt, and I thought I was making that pretty clear with all the time we spend together and the dates and stuff. I'm obviously not an expert, but I mean…come on. You met my family and I met yours and we have movie nights and dinners and I let you dress me up at the mall and you let me blow you in the dressing room." Kurt blushed at that.

"There was no punch to beat me to," Sebastian went on. "I had this whole conversation planned out for us making plans for New York together. I do want to experience it, all of it, but I want to experience it with you. I don't need to go home with someone different every night to experience the city and college. We can…study in central park and find some coffee place in between where we live where we can meet at and we can piss Rachel off and make her yell at us for being too loud. You can drag me to Broadway shows and shopping and I can bring you to crazy college parties to get you drunk, even if it means I have to stay sober to take care of you. But, if you don't want that, you need to tell me. Now, before I go reading more into your apology and crazy trespassing than I should be." Sebastian breathed hard, like he'd just finished a marathon, waiting patiently.

"How is it that I come to apologize, but you're the one who ends up giving this wonderful speech?" Kurt asked, not bothering to wipe the tears streaming down his face.

"Kurt."

"I do," Kurt said. "I do want that. I was just—I was scared, but you're right. I should know you better by now and I'm just so sorry and—"

Sebastian cut him off with a soft press to his lips.

"I'm sorry for maybe over-reacting a bit," Sebastian mumbled against his lips.

"You didn't. I'm sorry. I deserved it, but I'm just happy you let me apologize eventually. Even if it took scaling the wall to do it," Kurt told him.

"I can't tell you that it's not going to be hard and everything will work out, but I can tell you that I've fallen for you and I just don't want this to end, okay?" Sebastian asked for reassurance.

"Okay," Kurt's voice cracked. "I'm—I've fallen for you, too."

"Yeah?"

Kurt nodded and pressed his lips forward again, tasting the salt from their combined tears on their lips.

They finally reached their limit of emotional upheaval for the day, their voices disappearing as they collapsed into Sebastian's bed, trading lazy, but needy, kisses until they slowly dozed off, wrapped around each other.

Sebastian was right about most things that night. It certainly was difficult and they had to work hard to communicate and not keep their emotions locked up until they bubbled over. They did live out some of his more idyllic descriptions, though, having bi-weekly coffee dates at the coffee shop exactly halfway from Rachel and Kurt's tiny apartment and Sebastian's dorm room, but it changed a year later when they moved in together and took advantage of the coffee shop right across from their apartment building. They spent their time in Central Park, Sebastian studying pre-law and Kurt sketching more designs, working through his internship at Vogue that would lead him to even better places.

They experienced New York together, from Kurt being spit on in the subway, leading Sebastian to shout angrily at some muttering homeless man to the pair of them sharing romantic dates at fancy restaurants before each Broadway show they saw.

It wasn't perfect, but it worked because they grew up. They learned to trust each other and talk to each other and stop being so afraid of just letting themselves love each other, even if it took them months after they actually realized to admit it. The moment finally came when they could admit it, though, and it was perfect. They moved forward without anything else holding them back. All of their doubts and fears faded if even just for a while, replaced by something so much more important.