A/N: This is set approximately one month after the events of Forming a Connection. The stories in this 'verse are posted as complete unless they are specifically marked otherwise, so if you want to get Alerts for updates, use the Author Alert feature. Thank you to SolariaLunar21 for looking over this. Please review!

Bonding

"I don't even know why you're bothering with half of that school work. You could easily get an exemption…you should just do the stuff you need to pass."

Dave looked up from the books and papers spread across the bed in front of him and rolled his eyes at Sebastian, who was sitting at Dave's desk in front of his laptop. Moments earlier Sebastian had been typing away intently, but he'd apparently gotten bored because he'd switched back into attention-seeking mode.

"I already told you, Seb. I don't want an exemption. I want to do the work I would have done if I was still going to classes. I want to pass this year properly."

"You want to make your dad proud, you mean," Sebastian replied knowingly, and Dave shrugged, uncertain of how to answer. Sebastian was getting to know Dave far too well to believe him if he denied that was his main reason. They'd been spending a lot of time together over the last month since he had been released from hospital.

Sebastian was visiting that day under the pretense of helping Dave study, which in actual fact meant he would try to help if he was asked about something specific, but mostly he would just mess around on Dave's laptop or chat about nothing in particular, and bug Dave to stop doing work for a while whenever he got bored.

"Yeah," Dave admitted, "of course I do. I've made his life hard enough lately." He didn't go into detail, but he didn't need to. He knew Sebastian understood what he wasn't saying. The other teen had been around often enough lately to see the fallout from what Dave had done. Sebastian had been there three weeks prior when Dave had explained to his father why he wanted to go back to Thurston, instead of a new school. He'd been there to listen a few days after that, when Dave had told him about his talk with the Principal, who agreed he would be allowed to complete his school work from home for several weeks until he felt emotionally stable enough to return to classes. And Sebastian had been there a week and a half ago when Dave's mother had finally reached her boiling point, claiming that if he 'didn't want to be cured' then she wasn't going to bother with him.

Dave had pretty much fallen to pieces that afternoon. For the first time since his suicide attempt, he almost wished he hadn't survived. Things had been hard, but he hadn't regretted being found in time to be saved; at least he hadn't until he saw how much trouble he'd caused his family. Sebastian had dragged him away from his arguing parents and into Dave's room. He'd told Dave he had five minutes ("and not a minute more, Growly") to cry it out and be upset that his mother was so closed-minded. After that they were going to focus on something else. True to his word, after letting Dave sob on his shoulder for what felt like not nearly long enough, Sebastian tried to distract him by turning the stereo on at a ridiculous volume (high enough to drown out the sounds of his parents voices, which Dave suspected was the point). Sebastian had started singing along, loudly and obnoxiously, to the Fall Out Boy album that had been left in the CD player. Dave wouldn't have picked it as the kind of music Sebastian listened to, but the other teen seemed to know the words well enough to get by, and he was doing his best to draw Dave into his crazy impromptu performance. When that didn't stop Dave from moping, Sebastian had pulled him off the bed and forced him to dance like an idiot. It hadn't been quite enough to make him forget what was going on downstairs, but it had definitely helped. There had even been moments where one of them did something silly enough to make Dave laugh.

They'd been in there an hour or so when they heard the front door slam, even over the sound of the music. Dave's father had adamantly stood by him, even against his own wife, and that was the final straw; Linda Karofsky had packed a suitcase and left. Dave hadn't heard a word from her since, and as far as he knew, neither had his dad.

Ironically, in the weeks leading up to her walk out, the only person Dave's mother been particularly friendly to was Sebastian. Dave wondered how she would have reacted if she had known Sebastian was not only gay, but that he and Dave had slept together. When Sebastian wasn't around, Dave's mother had often made passing remarks like, "that boy must have all the ladies chasing him" and "maybe Sebastian could introduce you to some girls, he must be very popular". He always made sure to tell Sebastian later; Dave liked the way Sebastian's expression could never quite settle between anger at Dave's mother for not accepting her own son, and smug amusement that she would say those things about him. He seemed strangely pleased to be considered a good influence for once, even though the basis of judgment had been completely flawed.

The first (but certainly not the last) time she'd made Dave's personal favorite comment ("You could learn a thing or two from that charming boy, he must be a heartbreaker."), Dave told Sebastian, knowing the other boy would want to hear it. After he'd glared down the hall in the general direction of Dave's mother, he grinned and replied flirtatiously, "I could teach you a thing or two, Growly, and I already know you're a fast learner."

Dave figured it was better to be amused at the irony of his mother's words than to be upset that she didn't accept him as he was. When she left, it had hurt, but Sebastian had been there. He had even taken the next day off school to spend with Dave, and had cheered him up by making up lewd little dialogues between the bear figurines he'd given Dave during his hospital visit. It probably would have made Dave feel about five years old to sit around playing with teddy bear statuettes, if the subject matter hadn't been so adult. Instead, it just made him laugh.

Spending time with Sebastian was…nice. Even though he was still arrogant and, well, kind of bitchy, Sebastian was there for Dave. He came over every Tuesday and Thursday (since he didn't have Warbler practice on those days), and spent a good portion of the weekend with him, too.

Most of the time they sat around in Dave's room, like they were at that moment, and just spent time together. Dave had been serious about what he said in the hospital, and it seemed like the other boy had been, too. He really liked Sebastian, and he was hoping that something would come of that one day, when they were both ready. Dave was making every effort to sort himself out; he was seeing his counselor regularly, and he was trying hard to learn a bit of self-acceptance. That was something that spending time with Sebastian definitely helped with…he didn't know anyone who was quite as self-confident as Sebastian was, and that was a trait that Dave was slowly learning from him. He was even starting to hope that 'one day' would be more like 'one day soon'. If there was one thing he'd realized from the time they'd spent together, it was that Sebastian was actually really great, despite evidence to the contrary. The trick, Dave had found, was to not take anything Sebastian said too seriously, until you knew for a fact he was serious. Once you learned how to do that, and how to ignore him while he was being bratty, you were fine.

Sebastian usually got his homework done pretty quickly when he was over, and Dave got through big blocks of his school work, especially since Sebastian was really good at the subjects he needed the most help in, like French and Biology. (The first time he'd asked for help in Biology, Sebastian had given him the kind of look that still made him blush, even after that night they had spent together almost two months ago. Actually, thinking about that night probably made him blush even more.)

"Fine, be a school nerd," Sebastian huffed, "but I still think we could find something more interesting to do." Sebastian winked and Dave shook his head, amused. "Actually, this works well, you can be the shy, geeky virgin and I'll be the hot guy seducing you away from your books." Sebastian laced all but the most serious conversations with innuendo (and sometimes even those didn't escape), but Dave knew he was only joking. Mostly. They were doing the 'friends' thing first, no matter how comments like that made Dave's stomach twist pleasantly.

"I know it's boring," Dave acknowledged, brushing over the suggestive nature of Sebastian's words, "but I start back at Thurston next week. Four days, Seb. I need to be ready."

"I still think you should have agreed to transfer to Dalton."

Dave sighed. They'd had the same conversation several times, and even though he knew Sebastian understood why Dave felt he needed to go back and face his bullies, the other teen still didn't like the idea.

"We've already been through this, Seb. You know I need to do this. If I go running off to Dalton then I'll never face everything. I need to stand up for myself now, otherwise I don't know if I ever will."

"It just seems really soon." Dave frowned at Sebastian's words. It wasn't that soon, was it? "I know you've made a lot of progress…I'm not saying you haven't. I'm just worried."

"I know," Dave acknowledged, "I get it. And I'm not going to lie, I'm worried, too. But I need to do this. Besides," he scrunched up a bit of paper and threw it at Sebastian, "I've got you to call if I need support, right?"

"Damn right. You are going to text me in between every single class and call me at lunch." Dave stared at Sebastian in disbelief, until the other teen narrowed his eyes and amended his request "At least for the first few days, okay? Then we can reevaluate."

"Yes, sir," Dave mock saluted. No matter how demanding and bossy Sebastian might act, it was only because he cared – something that Dave found touching rather than restricting.

"I still don't like it, though. You'd be happier at Dalton."

"Maybe," Dave conceded, as Sebastian began spinning the chair he was seated on in slow circles, tossing and catching the paper ball Dave had thrown, "but that's not really the point. And anyway, I've seen your school work, and that's not even Senior stuff. There's no way I'd pass my Senior Year at Dalton if I enrolled now. I'd have to go back again next year."

"Good. Then you could spend more time with me."

Dave knew Sebastian wasn't serious, although he'd spent enough time around him to know that the other teen wasn't completely joking, either. Ignoring Sebastian's idea that Dave flunking the year would be a good thing, it was nice to think that the Warbler wanted him around. Not that he didn't already know Sebastian did, but it was sort of different to hear it said out loud.

"If I can graduate this year, I really do want to."

Sebastian sighed at him, and threw the ball of paper back. It bounced off Dave's forehead and landed in the pile of homework.

"I know. It would just be good to have you at Dalton. There are so many places there we can sneak away to," Sebastian flirted.

"Sebastian…"

"Blah, blah, friends, blah. I know." If Dave didn't know Sebastian so well, he would probably take that badly. In fact, he was pretty sure if anyone else could hear them, they'd think Sebastian was after one thing. And okay, Dave wasn't delusional, Sebastian was always after that, but he was after more, too. He'd done more than enough to prove that to Dave. Besides, it wasn't as though Dave hadn't had similar thoughts about Sebastian…not that he would tell the other boy. Well…not yet, anyway.

"Glad you are so understanding," Dave replied sardonically.

"That's me," Sebastian answered with a smirk and a wrinkled nose, "I'm such a caring soul."

"You are." Dave had meant that to come out sounding sarcastic, but beneath Sebastian's spoiled rich boy act he really did care, so maybe the sincerity in Dave's tone wasn't completely misplaced.

Neither of them spoke for a moment. It felt awkward, in a way that silence between them hadn't felt in a while. Sebastian had been really great, and for the last several days Dave had been wondering more and more what he was waiting for. He cared about Sebastian, and he knew the ball was in his court…but he was still sticking to the platonic relationship he'd told Sebastian he wanted. Why?

Dave really did want to figure himself out, but how long would that take? Was there going to be some magical moment where he'd suddenly realize he was 'all better' and ready for a relationship? Or was he going to look back – in six months, a year, or more – and regret not just taking the chance? And why couldn't he work on his own issues and date Sebastian at the same time? He could spend years trying to get better, how would he even know? It wasn't as though Sebastian held him back; if anything he encouraged Dave's progress. Besides, he and Sebastian were basically dating already, just without the sexy stuff. They spent all their free time together; hanging out, watching movies, sharing meals. They hugged all the time, and just the other day when Sebastian was leaving, Dave had kissed him on the cheek without even meaning to.

Maybe waiting isn't the right—

Sebastian cleared his throat uncomfortably, snapping Dave from his musings. "Alright, then. Not Dalton. But there's no reason you can't—"

Dave knew exactly where Sebastian's subject change was heading. "No."

"Dave…"

"I'm not going back to McKinley. I can't," Dave could hear the pleading in his own tone; Sebastian must have heard it too, because the other teen looked at him with understanding instead of annoyance.

"I just don't want those assholes at Thurston to start on you again," Sebastian told him patiently.

"It wouldn't be any better at McKinley."

"You don't know that. Far be it from me to encourage anyone to spend more time around Ga—around Hummel," Sebastian corrected, and Dave felt a surge of triumph that Sebastian was trying to be nicer to make him happy, "but at least you have a friend at McKinley, and you know that the jolly band of misfits they call a glee club would be there if you need them. They're a bunch of freaks and weirdoes, but they do the decency thing so much they're practically professionals, much as I hate to admit it."

"Yeah. Kurt would be there for me…Santana too, even though she'd never say it out loud. But at least at Thurston my bullies would be guys I was never that close to. Z and all of my other close friends…former friends…go to McKinley. I've known them since I was a kid, and they've been posting that stuff about me online, too." Dave sighed sadly and leaned back against the headboard. He tilted his head to stare at the ceiling as he sat for a moment, trying to figure out how to explain. When he thought he had the words, he looked back at Sebastian and tried to articulate. "Hearing that same shit from them face to face would be a million times worse than hearing it from the Thurston guys. And I already told you…I need to face the guys that made me want to do what I did, and that's Nick and his friends. I need to walk into that locker room with my head held high and stand up for myself, no matter how hard it will be. I need them to know they haven't won."

Dave watched Sebastian intently. The Warbler had his brow furrowed, and he was staring at Dave in a way that Dave had learned to interpret as 'I want to fix this for you but I can't'.

After a minute, Sebastian's expression smoothed, and he spoke. "I'm proud of you, you know? I don't want you to think I'm not, or that I think you aren't making progress, because you are. I just hate the idea of you getting hurt that way again. Not the…not what you did. I mean, of course I hate the idea of that. But I believe you when you said you would talk to me instead of doing that again..."

Sebastian was rambling. He didn't do that often, only when he was anxious or upset. Dave thought it was kind of adorable, but he knew if he let it go on too long Sebastian would get frustrated with himself.

"Seb…?"

"Sorry," Sebastian took a deep breath. "What I mean is that I hate the idea of them hurting you."

Dave opened his arms in invitation. Sebastian rolled his eyes, but Dave could see a tiny smile on his lips as he made his way over from the desk chair and settled against Dave. Sebastian always pretended that their hugs were an inconvenience, but he never said no. Dave was pretty sure that Sebastian got as much enjoyment and comfort from them as Dave did.

"I know you do," he said once he'd wrapped Sebastian in his arms. Sebastian's head was resting on Dave's shoulder and his arm was looped across to curl around Dave's hip, "but I need to be strong."

"You are," Sebastian murmured. Dave thought he felt a kiss against his collarbone, but it was very light; he might have imagined it.

"Thank you."

Sebastian pulled away slightly. The loss of warmth from Dave's shoulder had more impact on Dave than he figured was reasonable. He frowned at Sebastian, whose lips curled mockingly. "You don't need to thank me for telling the truth. Most people don't."

"Yeah, well, normally when you 'tell the truth', Seb, it's not a truth that people want to hear."

"That might be the case. But it's still the truth, regardless."

Dave bit his lip. Sebastian was notorious for sharing painful facts, but he hadn't said anything of the sort to Dave since his trip to the hospital. Dave couldn't help but wonder what Sebastian was holding back from him, though a part of him suspected he didn't really want to know.

"So," Dave joked, "what unwanted truths have you been keeping from me until you think I'm stable enough to hear them, huh? You've been too well behaved lately. You're freaking me out." He spoke teasingly, like he thought it would be funny, but he was still a little afraid of the answer.

"I've been perfectly honest with you," Sebastian replied.

"Oh come on, there must be something you've been not saying." Dave wasn't even sure why he was pushing the subject when he was pretty certain he wouldn't like the answer, but he was trying to teach himself to be strong. "I can take it, Smythe. And if I can't…well, if I can't take something harsh from you, when I know you give a fuck about me, how am I supposed to take it from them, when I know they don't?"

Sebastian looked uncertain; there clearly was something he had been keeping to himself. After a long silence, Dave poked him gently in the side. When Sebastian glared at him, he glared back and waited until the other teen rolled his eyes.

"Okay, fine," Sebastian answered, looking resigned as he grabbed Dave's hand, leaving Dave wondering just how bad it was going to be. He waited, on edge, while Sebastian hesitated for a few more nerve-wracking moments before he spoke again. "I think you are insane for going back to Thurston, even though I get why…"

"I said things you've been keeping from me," Dave snapped, frustrated. He just needed to know, "not things that you've been telling me every chance you get."

Sebastian glared at him for interrupting as he continued what he'd been saying before Dave cut in, "…and…I don't know how to say this."

"Just say it." Dave tried to pull his hand away but Sebastian had a firm grip. He would be more patient if he wasn't so anxious. Instead he just stared until Sebastian gave in.

"Even though…even though I fucking hate what happened to you, and what you tried to do…I…I like the person you are becoming because of it. I mean…I liked the old you just fine…but I like the way you are forcing yourself to become a stronger person."

Sebastian had refused to look at Dave while speaking. Even after he was done, he stared at the wall behind Dave's head, rather than make eye contact.

Was that seriously the only thing Sebastian had been holding back? Dave had been expecting something that might hurt his feelings. He hadn't really been to the gym much since his hospital stay; he'd been too focused on his family, his counseling and keeping up to date with school. He had probably put on a few pounds, so he thought maybe Sebastian would bring that up. Some of the school work he was struggling with seemed to come really easy to Sebastian, so Dave had also wondered if the other boy was getting sick of helping him. Or even worse, he thought that maybe Sebastian was sick of waiting for Dave to get his shit together and that he had decided they would never be more than friends.

Dave started at Sebastian for a moment. He was fidgety and looked uncomfortable, and still hadn't looked at Dave.

He lifted his hand to Sebastian's jaw, pulling it toward him gently until Sebastian was facing him directly, eyes still averted. He stroked his thumb along the skin of Sebastian's cheek, until guilty-looking eyes finally met his own. He couldn't believe that out of all of the things Sebastian could think negatively about – all of the flaws Dave had (that Sebastian apparently hadn't noticed) – the only thing the Warbler could think of when Dave asked what he was keeping quiet about, was his own guilt at something he shouldn't even be feeling guilty over.

"That's it?"

"Isn't that enough?" Sebastian asked, surprised.

"I meant bad things, Seb. Things I wouldn't want to hear."

"What the fuck are you talking about, Growly? How could you want to hear that I like something that is a direct result of what happened? It can't exactly be nice to hear, 'oh, good work on trying to off yourself, it really helped you grow as a person'."

Dave wasn't sure how to reply to that, except that laughter was probably not appropriate. Unfortunately, it was pretty much the only thing he was capable of after he'd spent several seconds blinking dumbly while processing what Sebastian had said.

"Why the hell are you laughing? It's not funny," Sebastian hissed.

"Yes it is! Oh my God and that voice you just put on…" Dave almost couldn't breathe he was laughing so hard. He was clutching his stomach – it ached and his lungs were burning. He had tears in his eyes, and the way Sebastian was staring at him in absolute disbelief just made him laugh harder.

He couldn't quite stop until Sebastian's astonishment was replaced with anger.

"How can you laugh at this, David? You tried to fucking kill yourself…there is nothing funny about that. Nothing."

Dave's humor fled at Sebastian's comment. Clearly the other teen had misunderstood.

"I'm not…I'm not laughing at what happened," Dave explained, "Of course not. I'm laughing at you and at me. You convinced yourself you are evil just for seeing a silver lining and I convinced myself that you wanted to tell me a billion terrible things about myself; things that you, it seems, haven't even noticed." Sebastian looked at him questioningly and Dave just shrugged. If Sebastian hadn't seen all those flaws, Dave wasn't planning on pointing them out himself. "I know you don't think it's good that I did what I did. For fuck's sake, Seb, you've made that pretty clear. But why wouldn't I want to look at the positive things? Isn't that exactly what my counselor keeps telling me to do?"

"Fuck your counselor. I hate feeling as though anything is better as a result of what happened. That's just…it's fucked up."

The look of guilt on Sebastian's face made Dave feel awful. He pulled Sebastian back into a hug, pressing a kiss to his temple before he spoke. "Seb… you're allowed to be glad I'm working out my issues and getting my life on track because of what happened…that doesn't mean you are glad I did what I did."

"I know that—"

"Do you?"

The silence told Dave everything he needed to know. He sighed as he felt Sebastian bury his face against Dave's neck for a minute before the Warbler pulled back a few inches to speak.

"When I think about it, I feel sick inside. But…but there's this tiny part of me that feels grateful that we are here together..." Sebastian's words trailed off.

"And you wonder if we would be if it hadn't happened." Dave understood. He'd wondered the same thing, although he hadn't felt the same guilt over it as Sebastian did. Maybe if their situations were reversed he would have…if it had been Sebastian who—

He cut that thought off before it could finish forming. He wasn't willing to imagine that, not even for a second.

Sebastian's response, when it came, was very, very soft. "Maybe."

"Me too," Dave admitted. "But I like to think we would have figured it out, eventually."

They sat together quietly for a while, Dave could feel Sebastian's breath against his neck and heartbeat on his chest. After he'd spoken, Dave felt the teen in his arms relax little by little until the tension in Sebastian's body seemed to dissipate completely and the silence between them became comfortable again. He hoped that he'd helped Sebastian understand he had nothing to feel bad about.

Dave felt so relaxed, warm and content that he thought he might drift off. Sebastian's breathing was calm and even to the point that Dave wondered if the other boy was already asleep. He decided to just enjoy the peaceful moment while it lasted. Eventually, an unexpected sigh sounded from the area of his shoulder, and Sebastian began to pull away. Disappointment struck Dave, but he unfolded his arms from around Sebastian and let him stand.

"You should get back to your school work," Sebastian said, picking up one of Dave's textbooks and handing it to him. "You don't want to be behind when you start back on Monday."

Dave looked between the textbook and Sebastian. He'd gotten already gotten a lot more done than he expected. He could probably take a break and spend some time just relaxing with Sebastian…he'd been pretty focused on school work for the last week, it was time to focus on something else. He took the book and started stacking it with the others, packing up his work.

"Actually, I think I've done enough for now. Want to watch a movie?"

"Yeah," Sebastian grinned, "that sounds good…give me fifteen minutes? I just want to check something first."

"Alright," Dave agreed as Sebastian sat back at the desk and woke the laptop up from sleep. "What are you doing on there, anyway?"

"You left your Facebook logged in."

Oh crap. Who knew what kind of mess Sebastian would cause. He knew the Warbler wouldn't do something to deliberately get him into trouble, but he wouldn't be surprised if Sebastian posted clever and scathing comments on certain asshole's walls using Dave's account. Knowing him, he would think he was helping by making Dave look like he was standing up for himself. "Oh God…Seb, what have you been doing with my account?"

"Nothing. Relax," Sebastian was typing something, which really didn't make Dave feel any better.

"Seb," he warned.

"I'm serious. I'm not doing anything. I've just…I've been deleting any messages you don't need to see. And before you get cranky, I've left any crap from Hummel on there. It's just…just the bad stuff."

"Oh," Dave replied, touched. He had been steering clear of social networking most of the time, though he'd logged on a few days ago and had been surprised at how few hurtful comments had been posted to him. That had been a few hours after Sebastian left his house; he wondered how long the Warbler had been doing this for him. It was…sweet. "Thank you."

"You don't need to see that kind of garbage."

"So," Dave ventured, because this was Sebastian he was talking to, and he could never be sure unless he asked directly, "you aren't using my account to post awful things to the jerks that are harassing me?"

"Your account? No."

"Sebastian…"

"Oh, don't be like that," Sebastian rolled his eyes at the screen and turned to face Dave, "I'm only returning the favor. And I'm not being nearly as awful, or illiterate, as they are in their posts."

"Are there…are there a lot?" Dave asked uncertainly.

"I'm not spamming them, if that's what you mean…" Sebastian was smirking, which left Dave with more questions he didn't want answers to. He chose to ignore them, and focused on his previous one instead.

"No…I mean, on my account. Are they still posting a lot?"

"Not nearly as much as before. It will probably flare back up for a few days once you start back," Sebastian admitted with a sigh, "but it should die down again. Maybe you should avoid your Facebook and Twitter for a little while and just let me clean it up for you?"

"Doesn't that counteract the way I'm trying being strong?" Dave didn't want to think of it like that, but wasn't letting Sebastian keep these things from him just another way to hide?

"No, it doesn't. You can't just be suddenly invincible, Growly, you need to build your strength. You don't need to deal with this trash on top of going back to school. You start by dealing with those jerks face to face, and let me worry about their online venom, alright?"

It made sense, Dave knew. He was getting better, but he wasn't really there yet. His counselor had told him that it was important to accept help and that a strong support system would be good for him, and that's what Sebastian was offering, in his own way. Dave still felt a little like he should be able to do these things himself, but he also knew that Sebastian wouldn't be doing these things if he didn't actually want to. "Okay. Will you be long?"

"Nah, I've already finished posting what I wanted to. I'm just going to check your account one more time."

"Wait…how are you going to get back into my account? Did you guess my password?"

"No, Bear Cub, I used a different browser for my account. Though, guessing your password sounds like it could be fun. Is it…MonsterCock123? 11HotInches…? TotallyStacked69…?"

Dave laughed as he shook his head at Sebastian's ridiculous guesses. He almost asked what Sebastian had been posting, but then he realized he didn't really want to know. It was probably something he'd disapprove of, in which case he'd have to ask Sebastian to stop. And he kind of didn't want to do that. Although, he didn't want Sebastian to be targeted either. "Seb…is this a good idea? I mean...these guys are douchebags…you don't need them harassing you, too."

"Chill out, Growly. I'm not an idiot. I'm not using my real account."

"Oh. Good." Maybe Sebastian's dubious conscience was rubbing off on him, but Dave found it easier than he would admit to let Sebastian do what he wanted and not ask any more questions. As long as it wasn't going to cause trouble for Sebastian, Dave could let it go.

He should probably try and be the better person, but between stressing over school, his mother walking out, his budding whatever-it-was with Sebastian and his attempts to rebuild his confidence and learn through his counseling sessions, he just…didn't really want to.

Maybe one day I'll be a good enough person to forgive them even if they aren't sorry, but in the meantime…fuck 'em.

Dave went back to clearing away his school work. When he was done, he settled back onto the bed, arms folded behind his head. He stared at the ceiling for a while, mentally reviewing his DVD collection and the one in the living room, trying to figure out what to watch. He had just decided he felt like something funny rather than an action movie, when he realized Sebastian was humming something familiar.

He focused on the sound, trying to place the melody. After a moment, it clicked. It didn't sound exactly the same, but close enough that he knew he was right.

"Seb…?"

"Yeah?" the other teen replied, distractedly. Dave glanced over, wanting to see Sebastian's reaction.

"Were you just humming 'Glad You Came'?" Dave phrased it as a question, but he knew he was right, especially when Sebastian blinked at him, surprised for a moment, before his expression became nonchalant.

"It's a good song."

"It is," Dave agreed. He paused for a beat, grinning internally when Sebastian cleared his throat a little but didn't say anything. "I've never heard you sing it. Which kind of sucks, considering you dedicated it to me, and all."

"Are you asking for something, Dave?" Sebastian questioned with a raised eyebrow and a teasing smirk. Dave rolled his eyes, but decided to play along.

"Please? Please, please, please sing it for me?"

Sebastian grinned back and Dave felt his stomach swoop. But instead of singing, Sebastian held up his hand as if asking Dave to wait then turned back to the laptop. He typed something in and unplugged the power cable. He carried the computer over to the bed, and settled into a seated position beside Dave.

"I'll do better than sing it for you. Sit up."

Dave did as he was instructed, propping himself up against the headboard so that he could see the screen.

"YouTube?"

"We record all Warbler performances," Sebastian explained as he brought up a clip and pressed play. The screen was fairly dark, but there was enough light for Dave to see several boys in Warbler uniform standing on a stage. He thought he could make out Sebastian in the middle, but it wasn't until the boy started singing that he knew for sure.

Watching the clip, Dave was in awe. He knew Sebastian had a great voice, but he just hadn't been expecting the performance to be so polished. He knew that they had changed songs at the last minute, but if he hadn't known that for a fact he would have sworn the Warblers spent weeks preparing. They were amazing.

Hearing Sebastian sing that song, knowing it was for him, and knowing there was meaning behind it…more meaning than anyone else knew, left Dave feeling emotionally raw. He was going to make this work with Sebastian one day. One day soon.

When the video was over, Sebastian moved to shut the laptop lid, but Dave stopped him and clicked on the "Stand" clip in the related videos list. He spent the entire clip tapping his fingers and grinning…he could feel the energy that the Warblers had put into that song and he loved it. He wished he'd seen it live, especially considering the frame of mind he'd been in at the time – he really thought it would have made him feel better, at least for a while.

After the clip had finished playing, Dave closed the laptop. Sebastian shifted as though to take it back to the desk, but Dave wrapped an arm around him and pulled him close before he could move away. He held Sebastian tightly, feeling impossibly grateful. He wanted to say something, to thank Sebastian again, but he had a lump in his throat.

"You liked it, then?"

Dave let out an embarrassing noise, halfway between a laugh and a cough, as he pulled away. He swallowed, with difficultly, certain he looked a wreck over just a few minutes of video footage. He felt like an idiot. He'd already known what the Warblers had done, why was he reacting so strongly to it?

"I…it was…yes. I loved it. Thank you."

Sebastian grinned at him as he got off the bed, picking up the laptop and placing it back on Dave's desk, before he returned to sit beside Dave once again.

"So…on a scale of one to ten, how awesome was I? One being 'incredibly awesome' and ten being 'incredibly awesome'."

"Incredibly awesome," Dave replied with a grin. "I can't believe you guys didn't win, you were so good! McKinley must have really been amazing if they beat that."

Sebastian scoffed, pushing Dave gently. "They were just lucky. The Warblers will wipe the floor with them next year."

"Oh come on, you have to admit, they are pretty good…they have a lot going for them," Dave countered. He'd seen the New Directions perform – he'd even danced with them to that Thriller mashup. It had been fun, but he also knew it had been good.

"Whatever. The only thing the Nude Erections have going for them is their name."

Dave grinned. Sebastian was sulking. And did he just call them what Dave thought he called them? Dave stifled his laughter; he didn't need to encourage Sebastian to be nasty to Kurt's friends.

"Did…did you just call them the Nude Erections?" he asked.

"It makes them more interesting," Sebastian deadpanned. Dave couldn't help it, he let out a chuckle. When Sebastian grinned at him triumphantly, his chuckle turned into a loud bark of laughter. Being around Sebastian did that to Dave a lot, he knew. In fact, it seemed like the only times he really laughed since his stay in the hospital was when he was with Sebastian.

"Seb?"

"Yeah?"

Before he continued, Dave hesitated. He wanted to be with Sebastian, he really did. But what if he made that decision then started back at school and couldn't handle everything? He needed to wait. At least a little bit longer.

"You remember how you said you were worried you would fuck this up?" It wasn't what Dave had planned on saying, but he figured it would be enough for the moment.

"Yeah…?"

"Well, you're not."

Sebastian's eyes roamed over Dave's face, like he was looking for something. Dave waited, hoping his expression was as open as he felt it was.

"Really?"

"Really," he confirmed. They'd figure it out, Dave was sure, and it would happen soon. Until then, he'd focus on their friendship, and on his impending return to school.

"So," Dave said, grinning at Sebastian and changing the subject, "what do you feel like watching? I was thinking something funny."