Chapter Text
He heaved a sigh as it was announced that his flight was delayed yet again. This year hadn’t been his year, despite deciding that it would be last New Years, and being late for Christmas because of an unpredicted snowstorm. For 4 hours, he’d been cooped up in this airport, waiting for the moment the storm calmed enough that they’d be able to fly to Ohio. For months, he’d thrown himself into planning to make this the best Christmas for his family since his accident in freshman year of high school, and everything was catapulted off schedule due to something so trivial as heavy snow.
In all fairness, it was slightly more than just heavy snow. It was near impossible to distinguish any airplanes through the fall of it, and there was no shortage of planes on the tarmac, since none of them could fly in this weather. He’d contented himself with coffees, mince pies and cookies for hours, taking in the crowds that flowed in, filling the airport more than should be allowed. There were so many different people spread around the building that he took his time to observe those he could see over the last few hours.
There was a group of middle-aged women giggling over glasses of white wine, reminding him somewhat of his mother when their gazes lingered on people much younger and fitter than them. In the corner, hidden slightly behind a book probably bigger than it should be for someone so small, sat a blonde girl with pigtails next to who he assumed to be her father. At the end of the bar, nearest to the entry so he could peak in, stood a young man, all long limbs and chestnut hair, observing the people around him similarly to Blaine.
It was safe to assume that they were around the same age, the slight colour in his cheeks giving away his youth despite their difference in height. There was something in his figure, the way he held himself and the almost unnoticeable feigned indifference that was eerily familiar to Blaine, as though he had known the man far longer than these few moments he’d spent staring. The recognition that stemmed from the back of his mind grew steadily as the minutes passed, as the barmaid handed over a glass of amber liquid with a wink, only to flush a deep red seconds later. It was rare for Blaine to see someone incur that reaction so suddenly, and that boy was a part of his past, nothing to him any longer.
The itch of his curiosity burned the longer he focused on the man, determined to find out if Blaine truly knew him, or if the deep part of him that longed to be with someone he knew right now was causing him to imagine it. There’d been alarm bells ringing in his head since the second he latched his focus onto the other man, a distant ringing that reminded him of Kurt’s yelling whenever he mentioned Mike or Jake. Erring on the side of caution, the side that had kept him from staying with Kurt any longer, he made his way to the restroom, the effects of 3 medium drips in an hour finally taking precedent.
Washing his hands, he resolutely came to the decision to leave it well enough alone. There was nothing to come from imagining people from his high school days, even if he had desperately missed them all. Heading back the way he came, he came to a standstill at the sight of the man before him. “Thought I was you checking me out, Killer.” Sebastian Smythe greeted from the wall opposite, leaning in faux disinterest. Blaine blinked rapidly to process the other’s presence.
“Sebastian, hi,” he stuttered, not sure what to say. The two hadn’t spoken since his proposal to Kurt, and there was awkwardness lingering in the space between them. It was difficult to believe that he’d genuinely stopped talking to this man, the only person who made him feel as though he wasn’t a constant burden, just because Kurt had asked. That said something about how much he had thought of himself at that time, since he doubted Jeff would’ve made Nick stop talking to someone that made him feel so at ease. “How have you been?”
“Are we really going to make small talk, Blaine? That’s never been us,” Sebastian responded, the echo of a smirk at the corner of his lips. “But I suppose there hasn’t been an us in a long time, has there?”
Blushing deeply at being called out so carelessly, as though the answer didn’t matter, he stumbled over what to say. It was true that they had been something once, not a couple by any means, but far more to each other than they’d cared to admit to one another, let alone anyone else. There was something to be said about their 3am conversations about if the alignment of stars mattered in the grand scheme of their lives, or if pancakes were better than waffles. He’d always held those private moments, the ones where they admitted how afraid of their parents expectations they were and how relieved they were that the past would stay right where it was, in a higher regard than so many of the conversations he’d had. In a far higher regard than all his conversations with Kurt, and only distantly apart from the conversations he had with his father after coming out.
“Don’t worry about it. Hummel didn’t want you speaking to me. I get it. My dashing good looks are extremely intimidating to someone who can never hope to live up to them.” Sebastian shrugged, his emerald eyes sparkling the same way they had whenever he’d mocked Nick and Jeff’s extremely PDA-friendly relationship. The comfort he felt at that teasing glint was unexpected, but he welcomed it the way he welcomed his mother’s hugs whenever he went home to visit. “Headed home for Christmas?”
“Yeah. Cooper’s coming home this year as well so I’m going to be bombarded with questions about settling down. Might as well get it out of the way now.” Blaine replied, shuffling his feet self-consciously. Ever since Cooper had gotten married to Dayna last year, his family had been on his back about finding someone to settle down with. It had been over a year since he and Kurt broke it off and, while they weren’t worried that he wasn’t coping, they were worried that he was taking too long to get himself back in the game. The barrage of questions would only be worsened by his Aunt’s insistence in the matter.
“Smart man. I got lucky. Dad chose to take his new girlfriend to the Maldives for Christmas, so the house is mine. Figured I’d go back, meet up with a few of the old crowd - see how Nick and Jeff are settling into married life.” Sebastian grinned, making Blaine’s heart flutter slightly at his blase attitude. He smiled back, before he processed everything the taller had said.
“What do you mean you’re spending Christmas alone? You can’t.”
“Why can’t I, Killer? It’s not like I care enough about most people to spend it with them. Forgive me for not wanting to celebrate with the newlyweds, or Trent. Trent snores really loudly.” He laughed at his own words, glossing over Blaine’s horror at the idea completely.
Without thinking it through, but knowing he didn’t want to lose a second of the short time they’d already had, Blaine blurted out, “Spend Christmas with me.”