Chapter Text
“Unrequited love. It's fantastic, 'cause it never has to change, it never has to grow up and it never has to die!”
- Vince Tyler, Queer as Folk
Kurt is in Babylon, talking to a man from Albany when Sebastian crashes into him.
Sebastian is a tangle of limbs and sweat and whiskey-heavy breath. He wraps his arm around Kurt’s neck and presses a sloppy kiss to his cheek. “Hey there!” he practically shouts into Kurt’s ear.
The man from Albany cocks an eyebrow. “This your boyfriend?” he calls, above the music, more accusation than question.
“No,” Kurt says.
Sebastian gasps dramatically. “Sweetheart, are you breaking up with me?”
Kurt elbows him in the ribs. “Fuck off,” he tells him, without much malice.
“If you say so,” Sebastian replies. His arm slides off Kurt’s shoulders, and he winks at the man from Albany before disappearing into the crowd.
“Not a boyfriend,” the man says, and Kurt is pretty sure he hasn’t said his name yet, but if he had, it was swallowed by the dance music.
“A friend,” Kurt tells him, glancing at the dancefloor for a minute, but not seeing Sebastian anywhere. He meets the gaze of Albany. “An old friend. And an asshole.”
The man laughs. “Aren’t they all?”
The man buys Kurt another drink, and it seems like things are going well, until the man gets a call from someone and insists he has to take it. He disappears towards the club’s doors, and Kurt has little hope of finding him again. He downs the rest of his gin and tonic, and then heads out in search of Sebastian.
He pushes through the crowd, and finally he sees Sebastian - head thrown back, hair wild, the colored lights reflecting off of glitter on his throat and jaw. Kurt discovers the source of the glitter as he moves closer - Sebastian is dancing close to a short man in a tank top, whose dark skin is generously coated in sparkles. They must have been pretty friendly for so much to have rubbed off on Seb, but they’re not dancing so intimately now that Kurt’s not willing to join them.
Sebastian smiles when his eyes catch Kurt. Kurt has seen this smile a million times, but it’s always striking - Sebastian smiles as though he knows a secret, as though he has all the power in the world. No wonder everyone orbits him, like desperate celestial bodies.
Sebastian turns towards him, and they dance together for a while, along with the glittering boy, getting lost in the heat and the music and the closeness of each other. Eventually Sebastian ropes his arm around Kurt’s, and he mimes taking a drink to the other man before pulling Kurt to the bar.
As they wait for the bartender, Sebastian leans into Kurt and says, “I’m taking that guy home. I’ll call you an Uber.”
Kurt sighs. “Fine.”
Sebastian reaches up to cup Kurt’s face, staring at him intensely. “Unless you want to come back to mine and join in.”
Kurt notices, idly, that Sebastian’s pupils are very large, nearly swallowing his greenish irises. “Very funny,” he tells Sebastian, who does in fact laugh as he lets go of Kurt’s jaw.
The bartender approaches them, and Sebastian orders drinks for them both. He hands Kurt a G&T and they clink glasses before Sebastian downs his shot.
“You coming back?” Sebastian asks as he starts heading for the dance floor, for the glitter-covered man he’ll be taking home.
Kurt shakes his head. “I’ll head home soon.”
Sebastian reaches into his pocket and pulls out his phone, pressing it into Kurt’s hand. “Bring it back tomorrow,” he tells Kurt, and then he’s gone.
Kurt hangs by the bar as he sips his drink, watching the crowd around him. No one approaches him, and he doesn’t have the interest or energy to go through the process of finding someone new to check out, talk to, flirt with. He places his empty glass back on the bar, and slips between people drinking and talking and kissing to get to the exit.
It’s cooler outside, but not by much. He can hear the buzz of the neon Babylon sign above the door he just walked out of. He wipes some sweat from his brow, and glances up and down the street. Even though it’s late, it’s Saturday night, and he sees people walking between bars and clubs. He doesn’t notice the man from Albany anywhere.
He slips Sebastian’s phone out of his pocket and taps in the passcode. He orders a car, and leans against a streetlight as he waits for it to arrive.
Drunk, alone, waiting for a taxi that Sebastian is paying for - it’s not an unfamiliar situation for Kurt. At least once a week he drives over to Seb’s apartment, and they walk or take a cab to the clubs. Sebastian goes more often, but Kurt doesn’t like getting too drunk when he has work the next day. Sometimes they each find someone to hook up with, and go their separate ways. Sometimes Kurt’s unable to catch anyone’s attention, or not in the mood. Sometimes Sebastian doesn’t go home with anyone either - never because he was rejected, but simply because everyone he saw was uninteresting to him. On those nights they head back to Sebastian’s together, and fall asleep in a drunken heap on Seb’s king-size bed.
And some nights, like tonight, Sebastian finds someone and Kurt doesn’t, so Kurt abandons his car at Sebastian’s and heads back to his place alone.
The driver of the car that picks him up is a middle-aged woman who is polite but not friendly, and Kurt doesn’t mind the lack of conversation on the way across town. It’s just before three when the car pulls up in front of his apartment complex. The driver says, “have a nice night, Sebastian,” as he gets out. Kurt shuts the door. When he uses Sebastian’s account, alone, he responds to his name, but he can’t imagine what life would be like as Sebastian. He wouldn’t be coming home alone, for one.
He unlocks his front door and moves through the dark common area, trying to be quiet as he makes his way to the bathroom. He brushes his teeth, washes his face, scowls at his reflection. He’s sweaty and feels gross, but is too tired to shower. He heads to his room, takes off his clothes, and climbs into bed. It’s quiet, but the residual ringing in his ears from the club music makes it hard to fall asleep.