Celebrity Status (currently being revised to 1st person) Walk of Fame-- Book 1

Chapter Thirty One

"I'd steal time and force it back,

If you'd see me still the same,

To keep what was, what could have been,

The price tag of the fame." - Bach's Revenge debut album, track 12

Seb entered the room and shut the door behind him, careful not to reveal what he had tucked behind his back. Charlie looked beautiful even though her hair was a mess and her eyes were puffy. Somehow, looking at her made his problems vanish. She erased Bennett and Jensen and the Moody mess, she erased the tension between Lane and Sawyer, the crazy pulse of the tour. But the one thing she couldn't undo was the dreaded feeling inside him that something would happen to her again. His fear had roots that wound themselves through every vein in his body.

He managed a smile for her. "How's my girl?"

She didn't smile back. "Truthfully, I've been better."

"You and me both." He withdrew his hand to show her the teddy bear he'd bought her. It reminded him of that one on the fabric softener commercials. Juvenile, maybe, but he didn't care. He placed the stuffed animal on the chair beside her bed and moved the bedrail down as he'd done the day before.

"Sebastian-wait," she said.

He took pause for a moment. "Can you just let me lay with you for a minute, bella, please?"

She sighed and nodded. He wondered what was so bad about him crawling in bed with her, but he couldn't bring himself to ask. He simply wanted to be beside her, nothing else mattered. He settled on the bed and shifted her gently so she sat upright enough for him to place himself behind her. She relaxed a settled into him and he figured whatever mood she'd been in had just improved by leaps and bounds.

"Tell me about your day," he whispered.

"Not much to tell."

He gave her a gentle nudge. "C'mon, there must be something."

"Well, I woke up and Robbie was here."

Sebastian scowled. "Hey. Where the hell is Robbie? I told him not to leave."

"I know," Charlie said. "Robbie was scared to leave."

"So why did he?"

"Cause," she replied. "I asked him to."

"Oh. I would have preferred if you didn't."

"Sebastian, I'm perfectly safe. I'm in a flipping hospital. I'm sure they have security, never mind that McKenzie is in jail. I'm okay."

"We had security too," Sebastian said. "Lot of good it did."

"How did the meeting with Moody go?" she asked.

"It was fine," he lied. "They were just determining where to go from here."

"What do you want to do?"

"I want to go home, Charlie. Pretend like this never happened."

When Sebastian had climbed into bed with her, she should have protested. That would have been the right thing to do. The closer he was, the harder it was going to be but for selfish reasons, she let him. She never wanted to forget what it felt like to be wrapped in his arms. Had she woken up that morning with the intention of breaking his heart, allowing him to hold her would be malicious but she hadn't and her heart would break much the same as his.