Kurt and Blaine exchanged looks. None of their friends had ever mentioned a Sebastian Smythe, even though this guy obviously went to Dalton.

"Sebastian Smythe," Kurt repeated, narrowing his eyes at the boy. "What do you want from us?"

"Now, that's not very nice of you," Sebastian reprimanded Kurt. "I simply wanted to meet the guys some of my fellow Warblers can't shut up about. Though – no. I actually just wanted to meet Blaine here, but they already warned me you were pretty much a package deal."

Blaine shot Kurt an uncertain glance. "Why would you want to meet me?" he asked Sebastian.

"Come on," Sebastian said, looking Blaine up and down from where he was sitting. He smirked. "Who wouldn't want to meet you?"

Blaine sat there, frozen, for a moment, before blinking slowly. Was he being flirted with? It sure sounded like it. But why would this guy come here and flirt with him? "Uh," was all he was able to say at that moment.

"Look, Smythe," Kurt started, sounding even more annoyed than he had before. It was actually kind of hot, Blaine thought, before reprimanding himself. He really shouldn't go there, least of all in public. "We were having what you'd call a private conversation here, and we didn't invite you to join us, so if you'd just leave us alone, I won't call the zoo to tell them I've found their escaped meerkat."

Sebastian just smirked a little wider. "So rude," he remarked. "I only just got here; it would be a right shame if I left already."

"The only rude person here is you," Kurt retorted. "You're the one sticking your nose in other people's business, not me."

"I don't see why you're so upset," Sebastian replied. "You must have conversations all the time, considering the fact that you're such good… friends." Suddenly, something dawned on Blaine. He hoped it wasn't true, though. "Anyway, if both of you want me to go so badly, I'll go. But Blaine, we should hang out soon. How about this weekend, at Scandals?"

"Scandals?" Kurt exclaimed, sounding, well, rather scandalised. "The gay bar?"

"Yes, and I wasn't talking to you," Sebastian responded. "You're not invited. So, Blaine… what do you say?"

Blaine's eyes widened as he felt both boys' eyes on him. He didn't even know this guy, and he wanted to take Blaine to a gay bar? Truthfully, Blaine wasn't really planning on going to such a bar anytime soon. So why wasn't he saying anything? "I – I don't think that's a good idea," he said. "Sorry, Sebastian, but gay bars aren't really my thing."

Sebastian raised an eyebrow. "I'm sure I could make it worth your while." When Blaine didn't react, he asked, "So, what is your thing, then?"

"Stuff that doesn't involve the likes of you," Kurt snapped, and Blaine glanced at him again. He didn't think he'd ever seen Kurt this irritated before, which was saying something, because Kurt and Rachel had often gotten into fights, especially during their sophomore year. Blaine really shouldn't be feeling this turned on, though.

Sebastian, on the other hand, looked entirely unimpressed by Kurt or his words. He almost looked amused. "Well, isn't that a pity," he drawled. "Blaine, let me know when you change your mind. Goodbye for now, boys."

Kurt was still fuming after Sebastian walked out. Blaine looked on for a moment, growing slightly worried. "He's gone, you know," he commented. This seemed to break Kurt out of his reverie.

"Of course, yes," he said. "Sorry about that. I can't stand the guy."

Blaine frowned confusedly. "You only just met him. Right?"

Kurt nodded. "Yeah. I know. But – sometimes you just can't stand certain people, you know?"

No, Blaine didn't know – he generally didn't dislike people on principle – and he knew that Kurt knew that as well. So he just made a noncommittal sound, and asked, "Anyway, what are you planning on doing in order to defeat Brittany?"

o-o-o-o-o

During dinner that night, there was a certain tension in the air that Blaine wasn't sure what to think of. They spent most of the meal in absolute silence. The last time that had happened, was when Rachel had had laryngitis near the end of her sophomore year.

Their parents seemed to notice it as well. "Rachel, are you okay?" one of them asked, when Rachel didn't talk even after fifteen minutes.

"I'm fine," she exclaimed, though her voice sounded somewhat strangled. "Nothing's… wrong." She hastily shoved the remainder of food on her plate into her mouth, swallowed, and said, "I should – go do my homework, if that's okay?"

Without waiting for an answer, though, she ran off, to her room. "Did something happen at school?" their other father asked Blaine.

"I have no idea," Blaine replied, staring after his sister. "I haven't really talked to her. Oh – Mercedes auditioned today for the role of Maria, maybe that's it. Kurt heard that she was phenomenal. What?" he asked, when his fathers exchanged knowing looks.

"Nothing, nothing." When he obviously didn't buy it, they said, "Why don't you go check up on Rachel? We'll clear off the table tonight."

Still a little suspicious, Blaine stood up slowly and walked upstairs as well, only to stop dead in his tracks halfway. Was he being so obvious about his feelings for Kurt that even his dads had figured it out? He groaned. He'd have to tell Kurt soon, or someone else would undoubtedly do so.

"Rachel?" he called as he came to a standstill in front of her room. He knocked the door once. "Rach? Are you okay?"

The door flew open. "Come on," Rachel said, grabbing his wrist and pulling him inside. She still looked a little… paranoid, almost, though Blaine couldn't think of why that would be the case. "So, I talked to Kurt today," she said.

Blaine nodded. "Yeah, he told me about that. Kind of."

"He's too chivalrous for his own good," Rachel commented. "Even if it's going to nullify his chances at getting into NYADA, he wants you to have the lead role in the musical if the directors want you to have it – in which case you should give up the role yourself."

"What?" That didn't make any sense. Then again, it was Rachel.

"Yes. Besides the fact that Kurt and I need those roles more than you do, you like him, right? You're in love with him. So what's a better way to show that than giving up your dream role for him? I bet Kurt could appreciate a grand gesture like that."

"I know Kurt appreciates theatricality as much as you do, Rach," Blaine said, "but – " Damn it. He couldn't exactly tell Rachel what Kurt had told him in confidence, right? Besides, who knew what Rachel would do when she found out that she had only won the Defying Gravity diva-off or whatever it had been because Kurt had sabotaged himself after his father had gotten that phone call? His father meant more to Kurt than winning that competition; while Blaine realised that he could never mean as much to Kurt as Kurt's father, that didn't mean that Kurt would actually let him do this, right? He had even told Blaine as much. "I doubt he'll accept it."

Rachel sighed, clearly not happy with the turn of events. "He didn't say anything about having romantic feelings for you," she then said. "I didn't notice anything off about him. He did say that you're a great performer, though, and he'd be happy to sing another duet with you if you were up to it. In Glee club, I mean. Not – not in the car."

"Uh – okay." Blaine wasn't exactly opposed to that either. He already knew, though, that Kurt thought he was a great performer. Not to sound cocky, or anything – Kurt just told him that after each and every song Blaine performed. Blaine always told Kurt the same thing.

"So this can mean two things." Rachel looked him right in the eye. "One, Kurt has no romantic feelings for you. Or, he's had romantic feelings for you for as long as I'm on speaking terms with him. You know, otherwise I would've noticed a change in his behaviour at some point, don't you think?"

"You've been on speaking terms for… at least over a year now," Blaine said. "I doubt he's had feelings for me for that long, so it must be the first option." As depressing as that might be. Before Rachel could try to prove him wrong – he didn't think she could, though – he said, "I'm just – gonna go do my homework now."

About an hour or so later, Blaine was already done. Staring at his laptop screen, he suddenly remembered what he'd thought of earlier that day. He quickly closed his laptop, leant over to grab his phone from his nightstand, and scrolled through the contacts.

It was time to confront Nick and Jeff, and whoever else was in on their plan about a certain new teammate of theirs.