Kurt hunched over his drink, seated beside the one man he would have avoided with his life not even a year ago. The bar was seedy and the occupants were even seedier, and it wasn’t a far cry from Scandals. But Sebastian was treating and “knew” the bartender; how closely, Kurt didn’t know. Consequently, he hadn’t been carded.

And well, Kurt was never one to turn down a free drink or two, even if the conversation was nothing short of stilted.

“This place is charming as hell though. Catch any STI’s here lately?”

Sebastian smiled slightly.

“As charming a conversationalist as always, Hummel. Is that any way to treat your date?”

“This isn’t a date.”

“Isn’t it though, now that you’re off the market?” Sebastian cocked an eyebrow as he swigged down his beer. Kurt simply glowered and shook his head. Of course he would know. Of course.

“Looks like you’re having quite the fun out here,” Sebastian continued.

“Yeah, time of my life.”

Sebastian simply chuckled, thumb pressed against the head of his beer.

“So I deduced. Can’t really blame you for getting tired of him. So boring—“

“Mind your own damn bus’ness, Sebastian.” Kurt’s head lulled slightly as he glared into space. “You think you know everything…”

“Not everything, but enough. Besides, I heard it from Asian Girl. Apparently you really did a number on him, you know that? I didn’t know you had it in you.”

Kurt’s voice was an octave lower and barely resembled itself. “He dumped me, for what it’s worth.”

Sebastian’s smile dissipated slightly. “He—“

Kurt didn’t justify any more of it with a response.

“But you look fine?”

Kurt actually snorted and looked back at the man in disbelief.

“What am I going to do? Start wearing Mossimo and Crocs and eat my weight in cheesecake?”

“I wouldn’t dream of it, but I just—thought you two were stupidly in love or whatever.”

Kurt stilled, his eyes glazing over slightly. “S’stupid. I mean, of me. I got crazy drunk at a party and… that guy I was with at the subway? Tim. I made out with him.”

Sebastian’s brow shot straight up. “Him? Shit, can’t say I blame you. He’s got—um, I mean, that sucks?”

Kurt waved another dismissive hand. “Have at it. We’re not a thing or anything.”

“Please, I don’t need your sloppy seconds. Already tried that… again. Wasn’t any fuckin’ good.”

Kurt couldn’t stop himself from glaring back at the man he absolutely hated – or wanted to hate so badly. He blanched at the idea of Sebastian having his way with Blaine and swiped a thumb over his brow, attempting to remain as passive as humanly possible.

“Whatever you did with Blaine, it’s really none of my business.”

But Sebastian only scoffed. “You still look like it’s your business. But cool it, princess. Your boy turned me down flat. Again.”

Kurt met his eyes once more, one hand bracing the edge of the bar slightly. “R-really?”

Sebastian gave a humble smile and nodded his head solemnly. “He was still super hung-up on you last I saw him. He told me to get lost, that he was categorically uninterested and wouldn’t, quote, ‘touch me with a ten foot pole after a million years.’ So I backed off after that.”

Kurt couldn’t help but smile to himself, wearing it just as a thin line along his lips. He gave a steady nod and knocked back the rest of his drink.

“Thank you, I mean, for respecting him like that and backing off when he asked you to.”

Sebastian only nodded. “I’m not as bad as I look, huh?”

Kurt simply smiled and shook his head, before he met his eyes once more.

“So Tisch. You?”

“Tisch.”

They shared an unexpected smile and ordered another round.

= = =

“So I suppose then we’re going to be roommates this semester? I’m Callum.” A tall, lithe boy with an English accent muttered, putting out a hand for his new roommate to shake.

“Suppose so. I’m Blaine.” Blaine hucked his bag on to the bed opposite and shook his new roommate’s hand. Callum was good looking, but he was a bit too reedy for Blaine’s taste, and judging by the Kate Upton poster on his side of the room, he didn’t bat for his team.

They shared an awkward moment of silence before Blaine spoke up once more. “So you’re from—“

There was a loud knock on the door and Callum held up a finger.

“Hang on, mate.” The door flew open, followed by a small entourage of inebriated, loud fools. Blaine couldn’t help but smile as the two other boys tackled his new roommate right on to the bed and rough housed him. But he felt entirely out of place, feet shifting against the floor.

“Oy, you sissies, meet my roomie. Blaine, yeah, wasn’t it? Blaine, this is Jack and Trevor. We met yesterday at orientation.”

“Yesterday? Wow.” Blaine had expected them to known each other for years, based on their rapport. “I’m Blaine. It’s a pleasure.” He shot out another hand and smiled politely, but his hand remained unshaken as Jack revealed a brown paper bag that he’d been hiding from behind his back.

“Man, did you get started before me?! Where did you even get that?” Callum exclaimed, clapping a hand on his two friends’ shoulders.

“Nicked it off Jack’s girlfriend,” Trevor said. Blaine found himself backing over to his bed and unpacking his carry-on. His head lifted up as Callum let out a quick whistle to get his attention.

“Hey, Blaine, you drink?”

Blaine was never one to be shy – ever; in fact, he was usually the life of the party, even though the New Directions were never ones to become sloppy drunks. The few times Blaine had actually drunk had usually ended up in disaster, save for the glass of wine at his parents’ Christmas parties. Still, college was about new experiences and being a typical college student. And going to college meant making friends and having fun, right?

Blaine felt a tentative clench in his heart (inebriated kisses as Kurt watched, feeling the loose brush of Kurt’s hands against his hips, pressing against Kurt in the back of his Volvo) before he nodded his head and cracked a smile.

“Of… of course.”

= = =

“So did I tell you I got a job?” Blaine muttered as he caught the football from Callum from across the room. They weren’t best friends, no, but they got along fine. And Callum had no hang-ups about his sexuality, although that didn’t surprise Blaine, as he’d put it on his residence form.

Still, he’d gone to a few of his parties and scored a few hook-ups. What more could he ask for from a roommate.

“A job?” Callum looked up.

“Waiter. Down at that Italian place on 64th.”

“Nice, Blaine!”

Blaine hummed softly as he caught the ball once more in his lap. “Aim higher next time—oof, way to treat a brother.”

Callum just laughed it up as he laid his head back against his pillow and closed his eyes, hugging the football to his chest.

“So what do your folks think about this? I mean, you getting a job?”

Blaine shrugged a shoulder back as he picked up his cell phone, absentmindedly checking his e-mail. “I mean, I haven’t told them or anything.”

Callum hummed in quiet recognition. “What’ll you do when finals roll around?”

Blaine looked up at his roommate again and shuffled slightly. The truth was that college hadn’t quite been what he’d expected.  Yeah, he’d been used to the workload at Dalton, but he’d underestimated how much he’d slummed it his junior and senior year at McKinley. His freshman year had slapped him in the face with the amount of reading, and sure, he knew what he was getting himself into going to Columbia – hell, getting into Columbia. But he soon realized that living in New York and living and studying in New York were two completely different things, and as Blaine trudged to class each and every day, he already longed to wear his cap and gown and enter the world of adulthood.

Consequently, he had been trying to pick up the pace in the second half of his sophomore year, but no matter what, he seemed to steadily fall behind. His only real source of enjoyment came from the clubs on campus, including the LGBT Union and the Clefs, Columbia’s co-ed answer to the Warblers. He was far from singing front and center, sure, but he had fun, all the same.

“I’ll be okay,” he raised his hand for the ball and Callum tossed it back.

“Hey, so. Me and a couple of boys were thinking of getting a flat before the beginning of next semester.”

Blaine looked up at that, genuinely surprised.

“Really?”

The ball flew back through the air and Callum caught it with precision, staring Blaine right in the eye.

“Yeah, really. And I figured with your job, we could split the rent even more and make it cheaper on all the rest of us. Plus, we could get out of the dorms. You in?”

It was a five second delay before Blaine noticed that the ball had hit him square in the eye and bounced off his face. Callum was bowling over in hysterics, and a smile soon graced Blaine’s features as he leaned over, grabbed the ball, and spiked it hard over his roommate’s head.

“Yeah. I’m in.”

= = =

“Hey, Blaine, do you think you could pick up part of my rent this month, man? My parents are really pissed off at me, and I’m a little maxed out.”

“I’m not exactly—“

“You know things have been tight since I bought that Xbox, which we all enjoy, and I swear I’ll pay it back to you. You can even charge me interest.”

“Jack, you know I’m not going to charge you interest, but don’t you think since your girlfriend is living here, too, she could….”

“B, you know she’s in between jobs.”

Blared stared back down at the floor before he met his roommate’s eyes once more. Jack let out an exasperated sigh and spoke up once more.

“It’s only this one time, I swear.”

= = =

“Hey, mom. Yeah, classes are going okay, I guess. Distracted? No, I’m not distracted. Mom, it’s just a few extra hours, and they just gave me a raise. No, mom, we’re doing fine out here, you don’t need to wire anymore. Callum is between jobs again, but we’ll be okay. Listen, I gotta go, I have a paper I need to write. Tell dad I said hello. I love you, too.”

Blaine hung up the phone and stared back at the empty Word document.

Only 7,000 words on contemporary Dystopian literature in less than eight hours.

He could do this.

= = =

“I can’t do this.” Sebastian paused in the middle of yanking his shirt back on. Kurt was perched on the edge of the bed, his pants back on but still shirtless. The curve of his spine was tenser than it should have been, and Sebastian shuffled closer.

“I figured.” He shrugged, reaching out to pat Kurt’s shoulder in a faintly awkward manner. “It was good while it lasted, though. See ya around, Hummel.” Kurt rolled his eyes and turned, reaching to grab at Sebastian’s wrist.

“I didn’t mean we should stop being friends,” he responded. “I just mean… this friends with benefit stuff. I’m not really. I mean.” He floundered a bit, unsure of what to say next. Who told a guy like Sebastian that he didn’t want random fucks anymore?

Sebastian laughed, his voice tinged with the faintest trace of fondness. “I get it. You’re a one man guy.” Kurt nodded, looking up into Sebastian’s surprisingly open face. The other man grinned and reached over to tousle Kurt’s hair, earning an indignant yelp.

“This has gotta be the first time someone’s asked for the sex to stop.”

= = =

I can do this. Blaine sat outside the dean’s office, fidgeting with his fingers. Ever since he’d received an e-mail from his adviser, telling him that the dean wanted to meet with him, he’d been on edge. Unfortunately, he had a pretty good idea of what was coming. And he wasn’t sure if he was even that upset about it. Everything was just so tiring and not worth it –

The door creaked open, and a man’s quiet voice called his name. Blaine took a deep breath, got to his feet, and walked in.