Broken

Chapter 21

When I came downstairs to the kitchen I saw Sebastian putting two bottles of water into a backpack.

“Are you ready?” he asked and I gave him a small nod.

“Did you tell Mom and Dad where are we going?” I asked and Sebastian shook his head.

“They will be out all day,” he said. “We will come back before they do.”

Mom and Dad went back to the police station to talk to Rhys’ dad. I didn’t know about what, but I didn’t even bother to ask. I wanted to move on.

“How about Rhys?” I asked and Sebastian gave me a small nod.

“I texted him,” he said. “I told him that you wanted to go to school and he went batshit crazy.”

I frowned and looked down at my phone. I had seven messages from Rhys. The last one and the only one I could see on my screen was just an exclamation point.

“Yeah,” I mumbled as I put my phone back into my pocket.

I was going to answer him later.

“Come on, Rory,” Sebastian said as he opened the back door.

The coldness and the wind made me shiver and I smiled a little. I loved the cold. I loved the feeling of being out in the snow, coming back into a warm house, and drinking a warm cup of tea or, even better, hot chocolate.

I walked past Sebastian and stepped on the back porch. I waited until he closed and locked the door.

“When was the last time we went on a walk?” he asked as we started walking toward the forest.

“Six months ago,” I said and he gave me a small nod.

We walked in silence for a little while. I kept looking around and admiring the scenery. The snow was falling heavily last night and it created such beautiful sights. The sun made the snow look like it was sparkling.

“I love to see that smile on your face,” Sebastian said after a while.

I looked at him and he smiled brightly.

I smiled back and him and looked back at the forest surrounding us.

“So, you and Rhys are back to being best friends?” I asked quietly.

Sebastian was silent for a moment.

“I don’t think so,” he said quietly. “I am not his favorite person in the world right now.”

I looked at him and saw guilt and worry on his face.

“He forgave you, Sebastian,” I said, making him look at me. “You are his best friend. You guys grew up together. He wasn’t going to be angry at you for long. We both knew that."

Sebastian sighed and looked in front of himself.

“He should be angry at me,” he mumbled. “I fucked up”

I nodded. “You did, but he forgave you.”

Sebastian tightened his jaw and nodded.

“I am happy he did,” he said quietly. “I missed him.”

I chuckled a little and Sebastian looked at me.

“Oh, he missed you too,” I said. “Believe me.”

Sebastian smiled and wrapped his arm around my shoulders.

“I missed you more, though,” he said as he pulled me closer to him. “I missed you terribly.”

I missed him too. I missed him every second of every day.

“I missed you too,” I said quietly and Sebastian kissed my temple.

I gulped nervously as I looked up at him. There was something I wanted to ask him.

“Sebastian?” I called him quietly.

He looked down at me. “Yes?”

“Why didn’t you stop Amelia when she was insulting me?” I asked, my voice trembling.

I could feel Sebastian tensing up. I looked up at him and saw guilt and anger written all over his face.

“I don’t know, Rory,” he mumbled. “I was so angry and hurt, but I couldn’t…”

He took a deep breath and stopped walking. He turned me toward himself and he caressed my cheek.

“I couldn’t say anything hurtful to you,” he continued. “I was so fucking angry, but I couldn’t. I guess that letting her say those things was my way of expressing my anger.”

I took a deep breath and released it slowly.

“And if she tried to hurt me physically?” I asked. “Would you let her?”

His eyes widened and he shook his head immediately.

“No!” he exclaimed and he cupped my cheeks. “Never, Aurora. I wanted to rip her arm out when she grabbed you in the kitchen a few days ago. I would never let her touch you, Rory. You know that.”

I gulped and gave him a small nod.

“I know,” I mumbled.

Sebastian studied my face for a few moments. I could tell that he was going to ask me a question I didn’t want to answer.

So I hugged him tightly. I could tell that he was a little bit surprised, but he hugged me back and kissed the top of my head.

“Thank you for taking me here,” I mumbled. “I missed our trail.”

Sebastian leaned his head on mine and took a deep breath.

“I missed it too, Rory,” he said quietly. “I missed it so much.”