Told You They'd Freak

16- Kurtbastian (Pt. 3)

"You do realise that you're panicking, right? Despite barging into my office, in the middle of my day, disrupting my schedule-"

"Okay, okay, I get it! I'm sorry!" Sebastian growled, furiously biting on his own nail. His leg had refused to stop jerking violently ever since the last half-hour he had barged into the small CCC Media office.

To say he was nervous was a gross understatement.

His sister-in-law rubbed her aching temple. "God, no, I'm the one who's sorry. You are obviously distressed, yet here I am, mouthing off at you..."

Sebastian didn't deny any of her claims.

Iris crossed her arms and leant against the table. "So," she started. "You have a crush. This crush has another crush."

"I told you, it's my friend, not me," Sebastian protested. Iris rolled her eyes. "Oh please," she groaned. "Everyone who says 'it's for a friend' is actually referring to themselves. Besides, you haven't been in touch with any of your friends."

That was the truth. And it stung like hell.

"Until recently!" Sebastian countered. Iris shook her head, hiding a smile. "Yeah, until recently. So now, you don't know who this crush's crush is and you want to make a move but don't want to lose this newfound friendship which may or may not be too fragile."

"No, it's compli-... no, no, you pretty much summed it up," Sebastian let out a defeated sigh. Iris chuckled at how cute he looked at the moment. No wonder Barry raved about him so much.

"What the fuck am I supposed to fucking do?" he squealed. Iris frowned. "Language, Bas, unless you want these exact words coming in the headlines tomorrow. And I will make sure the public doesn't like it."

Sebastian clammed up. He knew her enough since childhood to understand her potential of acting upon her words. "What do I do then...?" he said nervously. Iris stroked her chin. "I'd say... become friends with him. Try to actively further your relationship until it no longer stays platonic. Then Mystery Man will be forgotten, no matter whoever he may be."

Sebastian shook his head. "That's way too long term. It'll take months. And he doesn't live either in Ohio or in Central."

Iris' eyes lit up with sudden realisation. "You said he turned up in front of you for no apparent reason?" she asked. He nodded. "That sounds so like providence, but please- just don't."

Iris fell back into her chair. "You're cutting off your own avenues, Bas," she sighed. "I can only give you one more option, but this one has quite the risk rate. Just talk to Kurt and casually slip in the question. Make it sound as if you're just curious about who this man is."

Sebastian's eyebrows tried to touch his hairline. "I'm a dumbass. Why didn't I think of that?"

And he fled out the door.

Only moments later, he rushed back in. "Wait. Did you just say 'Kurt'?"

Iris didn't look up from her laptop. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"You did! How did you know?" he cried.

Iris held fast onto her denial, still refusing to meet his eyes.

****

"Why the sudden interest?" Kurt raised an eyebrow. Sebastian rubbed the back of his neck. Like a complete, utter idiot, he had just posed the question out of the blue instead of leading up to it.

"I- uh, I... j-just wanted t-to... catch up?"

Kurt wasn't buying it. "I can't tell you, Sebastian," he crossed his arms. "It's private. I don't know what Blaine told you, but I didn't cheat on him."