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He picks up Trent’s late night call on December 20th, expecting to hear his friend’s drunken rambling about the woes of being single for the holidays. Instead, the words that greet him leave him confused and frankly, insulted:
“Are you and Sebastian still dating?”
Blaine rolls his eyes at the question. It seems no matter how long they’re exclusive, everyone is surprised to hear that they’re still going strong. It’s been over two years, longer than he and Kurt’s high school romance lasted, and yet the question persists. He doesn’t understand at this point why it’s so hard to comprehend.
“Yes, Trent.” He answers with as much exasperation as he feels. “Are you being serious right now? Why would you ask that? You just saw us a couple days ago!”
They were in town for Christmas. They both tried to avoid Ohio as much as possible since graduating, but this time of year they always made an appearance. It was important to them both to spend the holidays with family and friends, even if it meant spending time in a state that never felt like home to them.
“Blaine.” And just the way Trent says his name before pausing has Blaine immediately on edge. Trent didn’t usually hesitate to say anything.
“What’s going on?” Blaine asks, a sudden dread making his voice waver. He could feel within the silence that something terrible had happened.
“Sebastian’s at Scandals tonight.”
Blaine blinked. “No, he’s not. He’s at a holiday party for his father’s firm.” He could understand how the quickness of his response could sound defensive, but it was true. “He texted me.”
“He’s here,” Trent said gently. “I’m looking at him right now and he isn’t alone.”
A buzzing noise filled Blaine’s head as his stomach sank. “Trent—”
“He’s with some guy,” Trent continued carefully. “Short, with a beard. They’re pretty close. Closer than friends. I wish I was wrong, Blaine. I wouldn’t be telling you this if I wasn’t sure.”
The room he was standing in felt suddenly microscopic, too small to hold all the air he needed. Blaine shook his head, even as his stomach twisted harder. “Sebastian wouldn’t— No. He wouldn’t do that. He’s not—” He stopped, his voice cracking.
Sebastian’s reputation existed before Blaine ever met him and continued mostly due to the fact he never fought against it. If anything, he played into the act of being a flirt, a heartbreaker, the guy who never saw the point of monogamy. But Blaine had seen something different with time, as their romantic relationship blossomed and trust was slowly earned. Within Sebastian was a softness, a sweetness and a quiet vulnerability that he only ever showed Blaine. He believed that part was the real version of Sebastian.
“This doesn’t make sense,” Blaine whispered. More to himself than Trent. “He’s not that guy. We’re happy. He loves me.”
“I’m sorry.” Trent’s voice softened. “But Blaine…he isn’t acting like someone in a relationship.”
His entire body suddenly felt too hot, his skin too tight. He wanted to argue, to cling to every memory of Sebastian choosing him, loving him. But the image Trent painted—Sebastian in that dim and dirty bar, leaning in too close to someone else—fit too easily with the version of him Blaine had spent months in the beginning of their relationship convincing himself wasn’t real.
He pressed his palms against his eyes, breathing hard, fighting nausea and tears. His body and mind in equal turmoil.“This can’t be happening. He wouldn’t do this to me, Trent. Not now.”
“I’m sorry,” Trent repeated. “I had to tell you.”
Blaine swallowed, his throat uncomfortably tight. For the first time, he felt something new creeping in—something sharp and hollow. Doubt. Not just because of what others still believed about Sebastian, but because of how he had been acting recently. Seemingly ever since they got to Ohio, Sebastian had become unsettled. He was more sensitive than usual, easily irritated and snappier. He withdrew from Blaine’s touch more often than not. Blaine had chalked it up to holiday stress but now he wasn’t sure.
“Yes. No, I’m thankful you told me. I’m headed to Scandals now. Please let me know if he leaves, just text me. I’m about 15 minutes away.” With that, he says goodbye and spends only moments throwing a coat on before he’s rushing out the door.
On the drive there, once he’s nearly arrived—a text from Trent notifies him that Sebastian just left the building with the guy he’d spent the entire evening with. Blaine grits his teeth, pressing his foot to the gas and whipping into the parking lot like a mad man.
He’s glad to see Sebastian’s car still there once he pulls in. He makes a point to park directly behind it, blocking his exit. He won’t be able to leave without addressing Blaine first.
Knowing Sebastian left the bar moments prior, there are only a few places he could be. With a sick feeling, Blaine checks the rear seat of Sebastian’s car, but no one is there. He scrubs a hand over his face, equal parts relieved and frustrated to not catch him in the act.
He stands there for a moment longer, not sure what to do. They could be in the other guy’s car, but he doesn’t know what vehicle to look for. They could have left in that vehicle.
He walks up to the entrance of Scandals, planning to find Trent without knowing what exactly he’ll say to him when he hears something.
Whimpering. A sound that could be either pain or pleasure. It’s coming from the left, where the edge of the building meets a line of trees, tall and thick with fallen snow. He follows it, boots crunching over a thin layer of ice. The cold bites into his face, but he barely feels it. His breath comes out in sharp puffs, each one quicker than the last.
Over here, on this side of Scandals, it’s hard to see anything clearly. Only the glow of a flickering security light creates shadows of the figures beneath it. But he could recognize Sebastian anywhere; the length of his limbs, the shape of his jaw—they were just as familiar as his own reflection.
Sebastian wasn’t alone. There were two masculine silhouettes against the building. The shorter man seemed to be held up mostly by the wall, hands weakly pressing against Sebastian’s hips.
And Sebastian—
Sebastian was bent down, mouth pressed hungrily to the man’s bare neck. Not leaning in by accident. Not too close from drunken laughter. But sucking at the skin of his neck, slow and intentional. Intimate in a way that tore through Blaine’s chest like a bullet, leaving his heart in utter carnage.
Blaine couldn’t move or speak or even breathe.
The cold didn’t touch him—not compared to the sudden, shocking anger spreading through him. The heat of his rage burning through his veins.
“You—You asshole. You fucker.” He yelled, his voice carrying over the frozen air.
Sebastian’s head snapped up so fast the man seemed to wince from the sudden loss of contact. He whispered something low enough to the stranger that Blaine couldn’t hear, and the man took off. Sebastian wiped at his mouth with the sleeve of his dark peacoat as Blaine stalked toward him.
“How dare you. You lied to me. You told me you were at your dad’s party and you were here? What the fuck are you doing? How long? How long have you been fucking around?”
Sebastian flinched hard in the face of Blaine’s accusations, his shoulders tightening visibly beneath his coat.
“Blaine, baby, listen—” But each step he made toward him, Blaine shrunk away.
“Get away from me. I can’t even look at you.” He tried to say it boldly, but his body was trembling so hard his voice shook.
“Please, please let me explain.”
“Explain?! What could you possibly say that would justify you cheating on me? I’m not who I was with Kurt. I know I don’t deserve this. Ironically, you’re the one who helped me see that.”
“We need to be somewhere private when I tell you. It can’t be here. Please, we need to talk. Afterwards, if you want to leave me, I’ll understand.”
Blaine, with his chest heaving, holding back sobs lodged painfully in his throat, just stared at him. The man he loved, who he’d dedicated more than two years of his life toward. The man who helped him heal and become the strongest and best version of himself after a relationship that nearly destroyed him. At this moment, Sebastian looked more distressed and distraught than Blaine could stand even under these circumstances. His hands trembled at his sides, wanting nothing more than to reach out to him.
He didn’t owe him this, or anything anymore, but he still couldn’t deny him.
“Okay,” He relented, a single tear finally breaking free, its trail warming the frigid skin beneath it. He turned and started walking back toward their cars before Sebastian could see the rest of them fall.
Blaine drives behind Sebastian, following his car as they make their way back to the hotel room they’ve rented for the week. Though it was nice to visit with family during the day, neither of them found it an appealing prospect to sleep over at their parents.
The drive is longer than Blaine wants, and it seems that once he’s started crying he can’t stop. The pain inside of him, the betrayal, the shock; it’s all too familiar. He can feel his self-worth slipping away. He can’t help but wonder what’s wrong with him, why can’t he ever be enough for his partners. When even the one who taught him his worth eventually finds him lacking—maybe he did deserve this treatment.
He’s embarrassed by the state of himself by the time he’s parked in the hotel’s lot. His eyes are puffy and his cheeks blotchy and stained with tears. There was no way of hiding what he’d spent the entire drive there doing. When he finally shuffles outside of his car, Sebastian is waiting for him.
“Oh, Blaine—” Sebastian’s voice and face shattered immediately from the sight of him, and then he was reaching out without thought.
Blaine jerked back so quickly he nearly slipped on the ice beneath him.
“Don’t,” he gasped, barely above a breath. “Don’t touch me.”
Sebastian reacted to the words like strikes, recoiling from him with a wounded look.
“Let’s just go inside and get this over with, Sebastian. Once you say whatever it is you think I still need to hear, I’m going to my parents. I can’t stay here with you.”
Sebastian nodded. He followed Blaine up to their room without another word or attempt at making contact.
Once inside, Blaine struggled to decide what to do with his body. Finally he perched stiffly on the edge of their bed, exhaling shakily and running a hand through his lightly gelled hair.
“Okay. Talk.”
Sebastian starts to pace in front of him immediately. “God, Blaine, I…I don’t know where to start, how to start.”
“Do you love him?” The question was physically painful to ask but Blaine had to know. He wasn’t sure he could handle the answer but he needed it anyway.
“What? No. Stop. Please, just… Give me a second,” With a deep and fortifying breath, he continues, “I wasn’t cheating on you.”
Blaine guffaws, shocked at the audacity of Sebastian to lie to his face when he caught him in the act with his own two eyes. “I saw you Sebastian. You were holding each other. I saw your mouth on his neck, kissing him.”
“You didn’t see what you think you saw.” Sebastian said quickly, but with conviction.
Blaine rolled his eyes, hurt twisting with bitter exasperation. “What else could you possibly—”
“I was feeding.”
A heavy beat of silence passed between them where even their breathing seemed to pause.
Blaine blinked once. Twice. Then he actually huffed out a laugh, sharp and disbelieving.
“Feeding,” he repeated slowly, eyebrows lifted almost comically high. “That’s what you’re going with?”
Sebastian didn’t smile or try to look away, meeting Blaine’s gaze head on.
“Yes,” he whispered. “Because it’s the truth.”
Blaine stared at him like he couldn’t understand the words, like he’d caught him murmuring in French to his mother over the phone.
“You’re telling me,” Blaine said, voice raising with incredulous frustration, “that you weren’t cheating on me, you were—what? Drinking his blood?”
Sebastian swallowed, his Adam's apple bobbing, the only movement from his otherwise almost frighteningly still body. “Yes.”
Blaine laughed again, a dry sound that cracked halfway through. “Sebastian, this is not the time to joke.”
“I’m not joking,” Sebastian said. His voice came out haunted and too earnest. “Blaine, I swear to you. I wasn’t with him like that. I wasn’t cheating. I would never do that to you. I was feeding. I didn’t want you to know what I was.”
Blaine’s breath faltered at the way Sebastian said it, like confessing a sin instead of making an excuse. Something uneasy began to crawl down Blaine’s spine.
“Stop.” Blaine shook his head slowly. “People don’t just—aren’t just—”
“Vampires?” Sebastian finished softly. “We are. I am.”
Blaine opened his mouth, shut it, opened it again.
“No,” he said, voice barely above a whisper. “No. You’re not. That’s— that’s not real. Sebastian, that’s not real.”
Sebastian stepped forward then, just one step, but there was hardly any space between them now.
“I never wanted you to find out like this,” he murmured. “I had it under control back home, but here—”
“NO!” Blaine yelled, scooting up the bed and away from Sebastian until his back hit the headrest. “You can’t just look me in the eye and say you’re a vampire. That’s insane. That’s— Sebastian, you expect me to believe that instead of what I saw? Just stop. You’re lying. You got caught, and now you’re…what? Going for the most ridiculous excuse you could think of?!”
Sebastian looked pained—not embarrassed, not defensive, but genuinely heartbroken. “I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want you to look at me the way you’re looking at me right now.”
Blaine froze. The sincerity in Sebastian’s voice made him pause. He wanted to stay angry. He was angry. But confusion was cutting through it all. Why was Sebastian saying this instead of just admitting he was exactly who everyone else always thought? A playboy. Someone who couldn’t stick with just one partner. Someone who laughed in the face of monogamy.
“Sebastian,” Blaine said carefully, voice softer, “this isn’t a game. You’ve hurt me, and now you’re playing with me. I don’t deserve that, I deserve the truth.”
Sebastian’s eyes—usually stunning swirls of blue, green and gold; bright and expressive—darkened completely. Their color seeped red, pupils widening more than the bright light of the room should allow. Something in the shape of his face flickered, it was only for a moment, but it was monstrous.
Blaine’s blood ran cold, heart stuttering. “Sebastian?” He was afraid. The hairs on the back of his neck and arms stood on alert.
Sebastian lowered his face and when he raised it again he looked like himself. “It’s okay, I won’t hurt you. I promise. I never meant to hurt you, Blaine, or scare you, God— you have to know that. I just needed you to believe. It’s still me. I’m still me. You can trust me.”
The relief of Sebastian’s face being beautiful and human once again nearly shook Blaine apart completely. He reached for him like a petrified child. “This is real? I’m not going crazy?”
“Shhh, you’re okay,” Sebastian whispered, gathering Blaine to his chest. “This is real, but it doesn’t have to change anything. I messed up, and I’m so sorry. I let myself go too long without feeding because I’m used to having easy access in the city.”
Blaine inhaled sharply, his face buried in Sebastian’s neck so that the breath of his next question tickled the skin. “Other men?” He asked, already sounding hurt by the answer he expected.
“No, no, Blaine - I promise. Not since we’ve been together. There are blood banks for people like me. There used to be one here too but it shut down earlier this year, I guess. I was already so on edge I wasn’t thinking clearly, I couldn’t figure out what to do. I was getting desperate and it scared me. I started to fear what I would do if I lost control completely.”
Blaine swallowed hard. “But…why him? Why some stranger from a bar? Why not—” He hesitated, voice wavering. “Why not me? Why lie to me? Why go behind my back?”
Sebastian’s eyes darted away, to the soulless commercially produced art on the wall, the comforter that had seen better days, anywhere but Blaine’s face.
“I couldn’t risk hurting you,” he said softly.
Blaine blinked, considering. “It didn’t look like he was hurting.”
“I’ve fed from people for decades before the blood banks became so easily accessible,” Sebastian continued. “Always from strangers. No one I had met before, people I felt nothing for. It keeps things simple. It keeps them safe.”
Finally, he meets Blaine’s eyes once again. “I’ve never fed from someone I love, and I love you so much it scares me.”
He caressed Blaine’s face with his fingertips, and his eyes shone with a level of adoration it verged on worship.
Sebastian continued after several deep breaths, voice trembling. “You don’t understand what it’s like. The way emotions and connection can affect the hunger, even the taste…” He trailed off, swallowing. “I know having you would be different. Too potent. Impossible to stop.”
Blaine’s breath caught. “Stop? As in—”
“I wouldn’t kill you,” Sebastian said quickly, desperate to explain. “I would never hurt you. But I—I might take more than I should.” He shook his head, frustrated with himself. “I can’t lose control with you. I love you too much to take that chance.””
Quietly, with his pulse racing and suddenly more aware of the blood rushing through his veins than ever before, Blaine asks, “Are you still hungry?”
Sebastian’s breath shook out of him. “Yes,” he whispered with shame.
It surprised Blaine that he wasn’t scared of him, not in the slightest. No, his heart was racing with something else entirely. Without thinking too much about it, he pressed his lips to Sebastian’s in a hard kiss.
“Show me,” He exhaled against Sebastian as he pulled away, hardly separating from him at all. Just enough so he could stare down at his mouth; the lips, teeth and tongue he had become so familiar with.
“What?” Sebastian asks, looking half dazed.
“Your fangs, please, I want to see them.”
A visible tension ran through Sebastian’s jaw. There was no horrifying crack, no sound at all as his canines lengthened with a fluid, horrifying grace. Blaine feared looking up from his mouth and seeing the grotesque morphing of the rest of Sebastian’s face, the glimpse from earlier still haunting him. Instead he focused solely on his fangs, sharp and gleaming faintly.
Blaine’s heart punched against his ribs. He reached out before he even realized he was doing it, fingertips hovering inches from Sebastian’s mouth. “Can I…?”
He glanced up to gauge his reaction without thinking, but thankfully Sebastian’s face was unchanged. The only difference in his appearance were his canines.
Sebastian nodded, his voice shaking with sincerity. “Anything.”
Blaine touched one fang, considering. It was smooth and sharp enough that pressing even a little harder might have cut him. “Feed from me.”
“Blaine…” Sebastian’s voice came out raw, frayed at the edges. “Don’t ask me for that.”
“Let me take care of you,” Blaine said softly. “You’ve been so good to me, helped me so much. Let me help you now.”
Sebastian squeezed his eyes shut like the plea physically hurt him. “You don’t understand what you’re asking. I’ve only fed from people I felt nothing for. You—” His voice cracked. “I feel everything for you.”
“That’s why you’ll stop,” Blaine murmured. “Because you won’t let yourself hurt me. You could never hurt me, Sebastian, you said it yourself. We both know it’s true. Not to mention, you already ate tonight. You aren’t starving anymore.”
Sebastian opened his eyes and the look within them was equal parts reverent and ravenous.
“Please,” Blaine begged. “Let me make you full.”
For a long beat, Sebastian didn’t move. Then he exhaled, long and shaky, like a surrender.
“Okay,” he breathed, using a trembling hand to cup Blaine’s jaw, thumb brushing over the warmth of his cheek. “God, you’re beautiful. I want you so much,” he murmured, almost to himself. “I shouldn’t do this.”
“But you will.”
Sebastian swallowed hard before leaning forward, his forehead resting against Blaine’s temple for a moment like he needed grounding. “Tell me to stop,” he whispered. “If anything feels wrong. I mean it. Tell me to stop and I’ll stop.”
“I trust you,” Blaine breathed.
Sebastian’s breath hitched. Then his lips brushed Blaine’s skin—just a touch below the jaw, where warmth and pulse lived.
“Blaine…” He groaned, before finally opening his mouth against Blaine’s neck. His fangs grazed the tender skin in a featherlight scrape. “Are you sure?”
“Yes, yes. I love you. I trust you. I want it.”
And then, very gently, his fangs pierced Blaine’s flesh.
A gasp escaped Blaine, more from surprise than pain. The bite wasn’t sharp, nor brutal; it was slow, controlled and careful. Sebastian’s hand slid behind Blaine’s back tenderly, holding him steady as if afraid Blaine might melt into the mattress.
A warm thrum spread from the bite, pulsing outward in soft waves. Sebastian let out a small, broken sound against Blaine’s throat. Whether from relief or restraint, he wasn’t sure. Blaine could feel him shaking, the bed was trembling beneath them both.
He rested a hand on the back of Sebastian’s neck, fingers threading through his short hair. “It’s okay, baby” he murmured, petting him. “I’m okay.”
Sebastian drew in another pull—measured, cautious. Then another. His breath grew steadier, less ragged. But the sucking sensation, along with the heat of Sebastian’s mouth on him, seemed to have the opposite effect on Blaine. He could feel his jeans tighten at the groin, as pressure built between his legs.
The tension in Sebastian’s shoulders eased as the hunger seemed to recede. Finally, with a shuddering inhale, he forced himself to stop. Blaine felt the fangs withdraw in disappointment.
Sebastian lapped at the wounds in his neck until all of the pain, no matter how minor, disappeared completely. Then he pressed his forehead to the bite mark, panting like he’d run laps.
“Jesus,” Sebastian groaned. “That was— You taste—” But he couldn’t finish either sentence, seemingly unable to come up with the words.
“Yeah.” Blaine smiled dazedly, letting himself finally collapse onto the bed completely, dragging Sebastian down with him. “That was… hot.”
Sebastian reared back up to stare at him in disbelief, “You liked that?”
Blaine couldn’t help but to laugh at his expression. “Don’t act so surprised. You know how much it pleases me to please you. And it kinda…felt good.”
“Holy shit, Blaine. What did I do to deserve you?” Sebastian had that look he got so often in his eyes again, like he couldn’t believe Blaine was his.
Blaine beamed up at him, reaching out to pull him back, “Mmm… How about you come down here and show me?”