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“Porcelain, take a break! You’re useless if all you're gonna do is fall on your ass every time you try to swing on the bars. Give yourself ten then be back on the high beam.”
Thank god, Kurt thought. He had been working with Coach Sylvester for a while now, and though his routine has improved for it, his sanity is certainly taking a toll. She pushed him in ways that no other coach had prior.
Well, aside from one.
He attempted to dust the chalk off his hands, — though he admittedly was just making small puffs of dust clouds, — before reaching for his water bottle. He had been a practicing gymnast for close to fifteen years, and these days he’s starting to feel those years wear on him more and more.
“Damn, Hummel, you look like you’ve been going through it. That new coach of yours really rides your ass, huh?”
He recognized the voice immediately. He wished he could be surprised by the other’s presence, but given as they frequently occupy the same training facility, it wasn’t all too much of a shock. With a sigh, he turns and faces the owner of the voice.
“What do you want, Sebastian?” Kurt took a sip of his water as he took in the man before him. Sebastian looked largely the same that he always had. Then again, they are forced into relative proximity with enough frequency that he could never possibly forget how he looks. Sebastian looked at Kurt with that same smirk that always agitated him when they were together.
“Who says I want anything? I have a trainee I’m working with, but she seems to be running a bit late. I guess not everyone is as punctual as you are, Kurt.” Kurt scoffs in annoyance, looking anywhere but at the other man. At Kurt’s lack of response, Sebastian continued on. “You seem exhausted, how about you come have a seat in the bleachers with me for a bit?”
“I really don’t think that’s a good-”
“Just for a few minutes. C’mon, we can be nice.” Despite everything in Kurt telling him that spending any period of time with Sebastian was a bad idea, he decided to silence that part of him. There was not much that the man could do in ten minutes. And besides, Kurt could admit, if only to himself, that he missed Sebastian.
They sat in silence at the bleachers for only a moment before Sebastian spoke up again. “So Sue Sylvester is your coach now, huh? Makes you seem like quite the masochist.”
“My routine is better for it. I’m at the best I’ve ever been.” That much was true. There was hardly a gymnast in the state that could outpace him.
“You didn’t seem to appreciate being pushed back when I was the one doing it.”
“You were different, ” Kurt insisted, finally looking Sebastian in the eyes as he spoke. “Sure, Coach Sylvester puts me through hell, but there’s no emotional attachment there.” Sebastian should know that it was always different with him. It was largely Kurt’s fault, he should’ve never gotten involved with his coach. But of course, hindsight is always twenty-twenty. “You were my coach when I needed my boyfriend and my boyfriend almost never. Can you see how that maybe fucked me up?” Kurt let out a sigh, shaking his head. “As dumb as it sounds, sometimes, I sit in bed and wonder what would’ve happened if things were different.”
Sebastian looked at him coolly and that in itself frustrated Kurt even more. Then, he let out a small huff of a laugh, but there was hardly any humor in it. “You have no idea what my intentions were. And you’re right, that does sound dumb. There’s nothing you get out of dwelling on the past.” The look on Kurt’s face turned into one of confusion. Sebastian elaborated further. “Kurt, you were great. But I knew you could be incredible. So my methods are unconventional, I’ll admit that. Made you tougher, though. Sounds like a pretty good deal, don’t you think? So in a way, I don’t feel too bad about pushing you.”
Kurt seemed at a loss of what to say for a moment. He was trying to conjure up what to say in reply to all that. But before he had the chance, his coach was calling out to him. “Porcelain, you got one minute!”
Kurt wasted no time in standing up. “Goodbye, Sebastian.”
“Kurt, wait.”
Kurt stopped midway down the bleachers and looked back at Sebastian, an eyebrow raised. Sebastian spoke up again. “Why don’t we get coffee again sometime soon?”
At this, Kurt gave a small smile. With a shrug, he continued back down the bleachers, but not before giving one final reply. “Maybe after I win my next gold medal. I mean you said it yourself, I’m already great. I figured you’d want to see me be incredible.”