Tainted

17

~Sebastian~

Takeout seemed like a good idea tonight. I wanted to keep my attention firmly on her and that was much easier to do if I was alone with her. We barely know each other. I purposely brought her away so we could spend some 1 on 1 time together without her worrying about people around us. So, we stopped by the small store in the middle of town grabbed a good few bottles of wine, ice cream and whatever other snacks Pip put into the basket, came home, and ordered takeout so we could sit on the balcony outside the main bedroom.

When I came back upstairs I can't say I was expecting her to be wrapped in the duvet but I'm glad she was. It was a sight. Seeing her out here, a little tipsy, wrapped up, summer sun setting over the hill a few miles away. I think I've been so caught up in getting her safe I hadn't had a chance to stop and admire her. Not properly.

Poppy took beautiful to another level. She feels like my mum felt. Soft and kind but there was a hint of something set deep inside her that made you know she wasn't to be messed with. Poppy felt like coming home after you've been away for months. It feels a little strange but you know it's where you're supposed to be. You were made to be right there. She's like when you have your favourite meal for the first time in a year and it tastes as good as you remembered it to be and you're elated you didn't build it up in your head.

"OH! My god." She laughed, jumping out of her skin, and shaking me from my head. "Shit me up."

"Sorry." I moved over to her, opening the pizza box and smiling to myself as I pulled her out of the blanket and into my lap, wrapping it over her and putting the box on her lap. "Eat beautiful." We sat on the floor talking nonsense whilst we ate and drank and eventually the food was gone and we opened another bottle of wine.

"You're getting me drunk."

"You deserve to relax a little." She laid her head back against me as the sky turned dark and stars begun to appear. "Do you prefer sunrises or sunsets?"

"Neither."

"Neither?" She nodded.

"I prefer that point in the middle of winter; you know when it starts getting dark at 4pm? I like 2am then. When it's as dark as anything gets. Everything's pitch black outside. I like the peace of it. Sunsets and sunrises are pretty but I love the night sky."

"You like the stars then?"

"You can't see stars back in Golbury. Too much light pollution. I don't think I've ever seen more than 3 or 4 at a time. Not really. I watch though. I used to try and work out how far the stars were and how long it was taking light to reach us from them. Wondered if anything else was coming with the light."

"Like what?"

"I don't know. Aliens, EMPs that would wipe out life as we knew it, a disease that would obliterate the human race. You name it, I've fought of it. Then if something from beyond wasn't going to solve my problems maybe I should sort it myself and just jump."

"Jump?" She doesn't answer. Stays staring at the darkening sky. She's so silent I only know she's alive because I can feel her breathing.

"He killed Rowan you know?... When Rowan found out about Cian. It was just before my 16th birthday and I'd locked myself in my room for 3 solid days. Dragged a set of drawers in front of the door so no one could get in. I don't know how I managed to get them in there every night. They shouldn't have fit. The drawers were too big for the little doorway hallway thing. Every night for 6 years. But Rowan came home from a trip and came to see me and couldn't get in obviously and I hadn't eaten so whatever strength had helped me move the drawers was gone. He ended up going a room down and climbing through my window to move it for me and I was just sat in the same spot for 3 days because I couldn't move, couldn't sleep." She finished the glass off but kept it her hand, otherwise completely motionless.