Chapter Text
Fitting in had never been Sebastian’s strong suit. He didn’t have a fondness for people, but he loved to be the centre of attention. By age 10, he had a passion for pulling pranks and would regularly get sent home from school for disrupting the class. From that point, his ‘rebellious’ streak grew. He’d snap back at teachers, confuse the substitutes, and push the boundaries. But when some of the teacher’s pets got irritated with him, he’d target them. Start rumours, share secrets, ‘accidentally’ spill water on their notebooks. It was all in good fun, to him at least. He hadn’t meant for his actions to be harmful, they were just jokes (looking back on it years later, though, Sebastian could see how others wouldn’t perceive it that way). No one else in the class had told him to stop. They had liked his jokes, the way he’d cause drama and entertainment; they just hadn’t liked him. Sebastian hadn’t realised until it was too late that no one was his friend- they’d laugh with him and egg him on, but they all saw that he was unreliable as a friend and would be too much to handle. He took things too far. No one ever spoke to him outside of school, he was never invited to sleepovers or birthday parties, the teacher always had to force the children to let him join their group projects. His behaviour had continued through to high school. He had a reputation, and he hadn’t believed changing his ways would fix anything.
Just before his senior year, though, his mom had told him they were moving in with his grandparents. His dad had been offered a new job in Ohio (or something like that. Sebastian hadn’t been paying attention). His mom had promised him that when they’d move to a new town, things would be different. He wouldn’t be alone anymore.
Yet, here he was, standing in line by himself. The Smythe family had only moved to Ohio 2 days ago. There wasn’t much to do at first; they’d moved in with his grandparents so there was hardly any unpacking to do. Tired of seeing her son moping around the house, Sebastian’s mom pushed him to ‘explore’.
Sebastian knew that she meant to check out Dalton Academy, the high school he was going to be attending after the summer. She wanted him to get to know his peers and hopefully make some friends before the school year started.
Sebastian’s grandfather, Harry, knew that his grandson wouldn’t want to do that, so he offered to take Sebastian on a “tour” of Westerville. “We’ll be gone for a few hours,” he told Sebastian’s mom. “I’ll buy us dinner so you won’t worry about us.”
Sebastian had complained as they went into the car; he didn’t need a tour of Westerville, he’d visited the town enough times seeing his grandparents when growing up.
“Stop whining,” Harry told Sebastian as he started the car. “We’re doing something fun.”
“Like what?”
“I’m gonna take you to the town I grew up in; it’s not too far from here.”
“What town? And why?”
“Lima. And because they have great coffee there.”
“I’m not going to some lame town just for coffee,” Sebastian said with a roll of his eyes.
Harry chuckled. “Of course not. I’m also going to show you around; the people there are great and you can meet the guys I grew up with. I’ve told them all about you.”
Sebastian sighed. He didn’t want to spend all day introducing himself to a bunch of old people, but if it would get his mom off his back about leaving the house, so be it. “Fine. But Westerville has great coffee too.”
“Not the same thing, kid.”
They had driven to Lima and Harry had taken them to see his childhood best friend. After half an hour there, Harry could see his grandson getting bored, so he sent Sebastian to get them some coffee. After driving around the town a short while, Sebastian parked the car outside a place called the Lima Bean, and now, after 10 minutes, he was still waiting in line.
He had no idea how crowded the place would be, but he had come too far now to turn around and find another place. Finally, he managed to order the three coffees and made his way towards the door. He saw a group of boys, laughing and looking at each other fondly, and Sebastian stared at them longingly. Maybe when he started at Dalton, he’d be able to find a group of friends like that.
Maybe things would be different.
Sebastian went back to his granddad’s car, carrying the coffees in a tray. He rested them on the car roof as he tried to unlock the vehicle. The door wouldn't open.
“What the hell?” he muttered and tried the door again. Still nothing.
Truth be told, Sebastian didn’t know the first thing about cars, but he needed to look as if he had everything under control so no one would bother him. When the car park was empty, he threw himself against the door in some attempt to make the door open. The car shook and the coffee tray fell off of the roof, covering Sebastian and the floor in hot coffee.
“You know,” a voice from behind said, making Sebastian gasp, “those coffees are better when you drink them.”
Sebastian spun around. It was a boy; bright blue eyes, perfectly styled brown hair, and a bored expression on his face. “I- what? How much of that did you see?”
“All of it. It was kind of funny at first; you obviously have no idea what you’re doing. And then it got kind of sad, so I came over to try and help, and then you murdered those innocent coffees.”
Sebastian narrowed his eyes. “I do know what I’m doing, actually,” he said in an attempt to recover some of his pride.
“Mhm.” The boy stared at the car, raising an eyebrow. “How old is this car? It looks ancient. No wonder it's useless.”
“It was fine earlier. I don’t know what’s wrong with this useless thing.”
The boy chuckled, a smug grin taking over his face. “Ah, so you admit it. You don’t know what you’re doing.”
“Shut up. Can you help?”
“Mm, probably not. My dad’s a mechanic; I’ll text him and ask him to come over here.” The boy took his phone out of his bag and texted his dad. “I’m Kurt, by the way.” He stuck his arm out.
Sebastian shook his hand. “Sebastian. Smythe.”
“You’re not from around here, are you?”
“Is it that obvious?”
Kurt gave him a genuine smile. “I have a gift when it comes to reading people. Westerville?”
“Yeah, we just moved in with my grandparents. This is my grandad’s car, by the way.”
“I see.” Kurt leaned over to get a closer look.
“How did you know it was Westerville?”
“Lucky guess. I know some people that go to Dalton so I went with it.”
"How do you know them?”
“I attended Dalton for a few months not too long ago.”
“Really? The students… Are they nice?”
Kurt smiled fondly. “I mostly hung out with the Warblers there, but yeah, they’re alright. I mean, my boyfriend attends Dalton so I should really be singing praises…”
“Boyfriend?”
Kurt directed his gaze at Sebastian then, seeming hesitant about what he was going to say next. “Yeah, my boyfriend. We’ve been together for almost 3 months. He’s great.”
“Oh, that’s cool. I’m starting at Dalton after the summer. Kind of nervous.”
“It's really welcoming. Can you sing?”
“Like an angel,” Sebastian replied, sarcasm dripping from his words.
“Seriously.”
“Yeah, I can sing.”
“Join the Warblers. You’ll fit right in.”
“I’ve… never been great at making friends.”
Kurt put a comforting hand on Sebastian’s shoulder. “This is a chance for a new start, right? And we can be friends if you like. Here,” Kurt took a pen from his bag and wrote some numbers on Sebastian’s palm, “if you somehow end up sitting alone at lunch, call or text me.”
“Thank you,” Sebastian said.
“My dad won’t be long. You can wait inside if you like.“
“Sure.”
“Just give me your keys. I’ll meet you inside after he shows up.”
“And like, the songs are just better, do you agree? I’m pursuing musical theatre for college so I’ll probably use a song from it to audition.”
Sebastian couldn’t care less about what Kurt was talking about. He had been non-stop ranting about musicals since they had sat down and it wasn’t interesting to Sebastian in the slightest. He was trying his best to not look bored, though, because he didn’t want Kurt to stop. The blue-eyed boy looked sort of endearing when he was passionate.
“So, anyway,” Kurt said, “what do you do when you aren’t getting yourself covered in coffee?”
Sebastian chuckled. “You’re never going to drop that, are you?”
“Nope.”
“I mostly keep to myself. I mean, I would love to be involved but I don’t really know… how. I’m hoping joining the Warblers, as you said, will give me some guidance.”
“Show choir helped me find my way. I mean, if it wasn’t for the New Directions, who knows where I’d be. I certainly wouldn’t have my girls or my boyfriend or… confidence, really.”
Sebastian hummed in response. Would the Warblers do that for him?
“Why did you move?”
“My dad got offered a new job. I don’t mind. There wasn’t much at our old place anyway.”
“Have you moved before?”
“No, this is all new to me. My brother didn’t really get it, he doesn’t get why my dad couldn’t keep his old job.”
“What’s your brother’s name?”
“Nat. He’s in his freshman year of high school.”
Kurt nodded. A smile appeared on his face as he glanced at the door. “Dad!”
“Hey, kiddo,” a man wearing a baseball cap said. He approached their table and looked at Sebastian. “That your car outside?”
“Yes, sir.”
“She’s all sorted.”
“Thank you, sir. How much do I owe you?”
Kurt’s dad shook his head and scoffed. “Nothin’. Don’t worry about it.” He turned his attention back to Kurt. “Let’s get you home, bud.”
“Okay, just let me say bye to Sebastian,” Kurt said. His dad left the coffee house, leaving the two boys alone. “I promise you’ll be okay at Dalton. You still have the majority of the summer left to prepare anyway, but I do suggest meeting some of the guys before you start. Eases some of the pressure.”
Sebastian nodded. “I’ll call you,” he said and gestured to the number on his hand. “I better go and meet my grandad anyway. I texted him what had happened and he can hardly wait to make fun of me.”
Kurt grinned. “Bye, Sebastian.”
“See you later, Kurt.
They had only spent a mere few hours together, but Sebastian had been certain that Kurt would be his rock during his senior year. He’d guide Sebastian to making all the right decisions and help him when things got tough. Most of that had been a stretch of Sebastian’s mind; they would have probably only been friends outside of school. But nonetheless, Sebastian was looking forward to developing that friendship more, which is why it hurt so much when he accidentally washed Kurt’s phone number off of his hand without writing it down first.
He had told Kurt he would call him, and while there was nothing remotely serious between them, it would still hurt Kurt if he never did call. But what was he supposed to do? All he had was a common-ish first name and a town he lived in. And he couldn’t even visit said town because he didn’t have his own car and his grandad had banned him from driving his ever again.
Maybe he and Kurt weren’t meant to be anything. Kurt had given Sebastian tips about how to make friends, and possibly, that was all he was meant to do.