Chapter Text
Sebastian makes his way along the corridor, following Mr Anderson, who has a quick step and confident stride; purposely looking anywhere apart from his ass which is only accentuated by his trousers which Sebastian now notices are snug and tight fitting. Nate skips along at his side, glancing nervously up at his father every few seconds.
They eventually came to a classroom which Sebastian assumes is Nate’s, although he’s never been inside before and Mr Anderson gives him a smile and holds the door wide for him and Nate to enter, before following closely behind.
Once in the room, Nate drops Sebastian’s hand and immediately races forward towards the other side of the room.
“This is my seat, Daddy!” Nate exclaims, while pointing at the chair that he was now standing behind. “And that’s Katie’s and that’s Daniel’s and that’s Mohammed’s.” Nate concludes, pointing out each chair with pride.
Sebastian is about to respond when he hears Mr Anderson speak closely behind him.
“Hey Nate, why don’t you go and read for a few minutes while I talk to your dad? We won’t be long.”
“Any book?” Nate asks, wide eyed with excitement.
“Any book.” Mr Anderson replies, which had Nate racing over to the other side of the room, into a corner that was full of brightly scattered cushions and several book shelves, like a miniature library. “That’ll keep him happy for a few minutes.” Mr Anderson states, turning to face Sebastian who looks slightly confused, with a wide grin.
“Am I missing something?” Sebastian asks. “I can’t get him to sit down for more than five minutes, let alone read books.” Sebastian confesses, watching Nate who has quickly grabbed four different books and is making himself comfy on one of the bean bags, with them balanced on his knees as he starts to read the first.
“Pirates.” Mr Anderson states matter of factly with a smile.
“Excuse me?” Sebastian replies, turning to face him, his face even more confused than before.
He watches as Nate’s teacher turns his head to look at him inquisitively, for slightly longer than needed, and then flicks his eyes in the direction of Nate and back again before responding.
“Pirates. They’re only allowed to read the pirate books if they’ve been really good, or finished a level on their reading grid. They’re all mad about them. Nate especially.” Mr Anderson replies with a small laugh. “I know the words off by heart; I’ve had them read to me that many times.”
“Huh.” Sebastian grunts, before glancing once more at Nate who is sat wide eyed, engrossed in what he is reading.
When he turns back Mr Anderson is no longer next to him, but has moved towards his desk, where he is flitting through a couple of pieces of paper and then pulled a chair around the side of his desk for Sebastian to sit on. Eventually he looks up at Sebastian and gives him a smile: “Whenever you’re ready.”
Sebastian makes his way over to the desk and sits down, as does Mr Anderson, so that they were sat at an angle next to one another.
“So.” Sebastian starts, because in his line of work he was usually the one to do all the talking, but on this occasion, once he has started he realises that he doesn’t have anything to say. “Um….”
He notices as Mr Anderson watches him for a few moments with the same inquisitive look that he had worn a few minutes earlier as well as amusement, before he speaks.
“Don’t worry, Mr Smythe, it’s not that bad.” He says with a genuine smile.
“Sebastian.” Sebastian cuts in, cheeks flushing red momentarily with the worry of sounding uncouth and Ill mannered.
He realises almost immediately that Nate’s teacher isn’t offended, but instead seems to be even more intrigued, a small smile playing on his lips as his own cheeks blush a shade of pink, but for what reason, Sebastian isn’t sure.
“Ok, Sebastian.” Mr Anderson says, as though testing the name out on his tongue, with a small nod. “Well, like I said, we’ve had a few problems with Nate and some of the boys in his class. Today at lunch time, Nate was in a fight with one of the boys, which resulted in him calling the other boy names and pushing him over.”
Sebastian’s eyes widen in surprise as he quickly looked at Nate and then back at Mr Anderson who is watching him with a sympathetic gaze; his relaxed façade, now turning displeased and guarded.
“There must be some mistake. Nate would never do anything like that, he-” Sebastian starts, only to be interrupted.
“Believe me; I thought the same when I heard what had happened. Nate isn’t like that, he’s one of the best behaved in the class. He is the person I would least expect it from, but on this occasion there isn’t any mistake.” Mr Anderson says calmly, his voice kind and understanding. “I’m not saying he wasn’t provoked, but he did retaliate and did so aggressively. He wasn’t the instigator of the fight though, that part is clear. He was simply standing up for something he believed was wrong.” Mr Anderson concludes, his lips turned up at the edges in fondness and what Sebastian might have mistaken for admiration if he hadn’t been so annoyed and confused.
Sebastian’s lips are a straight line as he stares back at Mr Anderson. He is annoyed by the whole thing, can’t believe what he was hearing but at the same time, appreciates that Mr Anderson is in support of Nate so a certain degree.
“So, what happened?” Sebastian asks pointedly, causing Mr Anderson to glance at Nate then at Sebastian and finally his desk before leaning back in his chair as though trying to compose what to say. “Come on, it can’t be that bad?” Sebastian continues. “What did Nate get annoyed at? Did someone steal his lunch? Or even worse, get to read one of the pirate books before him?” Sebastian concludes, trying to make light of the situation.
“No, it’s a bit more personal than that.” Mr Anderson states slowly, the blush of pink returning and not fading so quickly this time. “Apparently it’s been going on for a few weeks now.”
“What has?” Sebastian asks, voice slightly more frustrated and panicked now as he glances sideways at Nate who is completely oblivious, lost in the world of pirates, ships and the seven seas.
“A group of the boys from the class have been subtly and quite maliciously saying things to Nate. Up until this point he’s ignored them, but today he snapped and went for them. There is one boy in particular, James Lucas, who has been the ring leader, from what we can make out and is the boy Nate went for.” Mr Anderson explains.
“Right, so what were they saying? Nate doesn’t care what people say about him. He’s been like it from the day he was born.” Sebastian states, suddenly feeling nervous with the whole situation.
Mr Anderson looks right back at him, his own cheeks flushing more so, his eyes softening as he looks over at Nate and then back again. “They weren’t really saying things about Nate.”
“Well who then?” Sebastian exclaims.
“You.” Mr Anderson answers after a beat, his own lips now in a straight line as he watches to gage Sebastian’s response.
A soon as he hears the word ‘You’ Sebastian’s heart skips a beat. Several different emotions bubble up inside of him because he knows straight away what it’s about, what might have been said. He starts off as shocked and it slowly builds up to anger. Not that they’ve been said, he’s used to it, but the fact that they’ve been said to Nate.
“What was said?” Sebastian asks, his voice filled with shaking rage that he’s trying with all his might not to let show.
Mr Anderson watches him before eventually pulling out a piece of paper from the pile in front of him, which is filled with lines and lines of Nate’s curvy, unruly handwriting and offers it Sebastian.
“When something like this happens, we have to take statements from the students. This is what Nate wrote.”
Sebastian snatches the piece of paper from his hand and starts scanning it; insults jumping off the page left, right and centre. Homo. Gay. Fag. But it’s the last sentence that make’s Sebastian’s heart clench and the anger boil over.
'and then he said my Daddy wasn’t a proper Daddy because he liked other Daddies instead of Mommies and he wasn’t normal and neither was I so then I pushed him over'
Sebastian places the piece of paper down on the desk in front of him with a thump, his hand pressing against the wood. His eyes are angry and narrowed, unable to meet Mr Anderson’s which are watching him closely. Neither of them speak for a minute, Sebastian unable to do so without blurting something out which he might regret and Mr Anderson out of respect.
Eventually it’s Sebastian who speaks first, looking up, his jaw clenched as his eyes lock with Nate’s teacher.
“This has been going on for weeks?” Sebastian asks, his voice enfolded with wrath.
Mr Anderson nods slowly, his own eyes looking regretful and sorry.
“Right.” Sebastian says, nodding his head, jaw clenching harder together than before. “And Nate’s going to get into trouble?”
Mr Anderson nods again, receiving a glare from Sebastian.
“James will as well.” Mr Anderson states, “I’ll be sure of that.” He concludes, giving Sebastian a small reassuring smile to which he gained no response. “Are you ok?” He asks, looking at Sebastian, trying to make eye contact with Sebastian wandering eyes, which seemed to be unable to look at him.
“Fan-fucking-tastic.” Sebastian spits out, slightly too loudly, causing Nate to look up from his book momentarily before returning his eyes to the page. “Not only am I belittled for being gay, but now my son, who is five, is also being picked on for it.” Sebastian hisses out in a muffled whisper, so not to concern Nate. “Couldn’t be happier.” He mutters angrily, eventually exhaling and slumping into the chair for the first time in the whole conversation.
He brings his hand up to his tired face, rubbing it across his face before running his fingers through his perfectly coiffed hair and finally turning to look at Mr Anderson, who is observing him absorbedly; his eyes tracking every movement that Sebastian makes.
“Sorry.” Sebastian apologises after a few moments, realising his little outburst may have come across as a little dramatic.
“Don’t worry.” Mr Anderson replies, leaning forward and placing his hand over Sebastian’s without really thinking. “I’d feel exactly the same if I had a kid and they were getting picked on just because I’m gay.”
Sebastian’s eyes shoot straight up and stare back at him and then back down to the warm hand that is covering his own. Tingles. As though he knows what Sebastian is thinking, Mr Anderson quickly retracts his hand as though he’s been burnt and Sebastian doesn’t know what to say but is about to blurt out ‘Are you gay?’ but is stopped just in the nick of time (because that would probably be more embarrassing than his previous outburst) by Nate who is calling him from the other side of the room.
“Daddy! Can we go soon?”
Sebastian looks over to him and sees that the four books that were previously piled neatly on his knees are now scattered all over the floor in front of him, amongst others. Sebastian looks back at Mr Anderson, who is quietly smiling to himself and looking down at his hands and then back at Nate with a stern look.
“Well for starters, you have some tidying up to do.” He states and watches as Nate looks down at the books with displeasure, rolls his eyes and starts to push himself up out of the bean bag to start tidying away, before turning back to Mr Anderson.
He’s greeted by another open smile, which kind of makes his heart flutter and he has to hold back his own grin.
“Thanks for letting me know what happened.” He says, feeling much calmer then before “And I apologise on his behalf for what’s gone on.” Sebastian concludes.
“He’ll have to have detention for the next few days after school.” Mr Anderson replied with a small shrug. “But, like I said he was simply standing up for you and something he believed was wrong. Off the record?” He asks after a moment, looking at Sebastian for confirmation and receives a nod. “If I was Nate, I’d have done the same.”
Sebastian feels a grin start to spread across his face and is about to respond, when Nate appears at his side and is yanking on his arm once again.
“Done!” He exclaims, “Now can we go?”
Sebastian stands up and pretends to inspect the reading corner, before turning to look at Nate once again. “I suppose, since you’ve done such a good job of tidying up. But before we do, what do you need to do?” He asks, looking down at Nate, knowing his son already knows the answer.
Nate immediately turns toward his teacher; head bowed like it had been earlier in the playground.
“I’m sorry for fighting today, Mr Anderson. I won’t do it again.” Nate states matter of factly.
“Ever?” Sebastian asks from behind him, receiving a small, coy smile from Mr Anderson.
“Ever.” Nate repeats, nodding his head and then turning around to face his father once again with an expectant smile on his face.
Sebastian can’t help let the anger dissolve away when he looks down at his son, and lets out a huff of breath to try and cover up a laugh, because although Nate has him wrapped around his finger, he doesn’t want him to think that going around pushing people over is the done thing to do.
“Right, let’s go.” Sebastian states, before turning back to Mr Anderson who is now standing and nodding. “Thank you very much, Mr Anderson.”
“Blaine.” Mr Anderson replies, giving Sebastian a sheepish smile.
“Blaine.” Sebastian repeats before extending his hand.
Blaine brings his own hand up to shake Sebastian’s and the tingling feeling is there once again. They hold on slightly longer than necessary before Nate is popping their bubble and bringing them crashing back down to reality.
“Dadddyyyy.” He whines, causing Sebastian to roll his eyes once again at Blaine.
“It was really nice to meet you, Blaine.” Sebastian states, giving him a small smile, before ruffling Nate’s hair absent minded.
“Likewise.” Blaine states with a nod and a smile in return. “Hopefully see you again soon.”
“Hopefully.” Sebastian replies and with that, Sebastian and Nate move away from the desk towards the door.
Nate goes ahead of Sebastian, racing down the corridor and as Sebastian turns back to give Blaine a small wave, the pink blush is back, this time on both their cheeks and that’s the moment that it all begins.