TALK ME DOWN → SEBASTIAN STAN

fifty | real life

Sun shone brightly in Riley's eyes as she squinted, blinking a few times to let her eyes adjust. She instantly rolled over, expecting to see Seb lying asleep beside her. Except he wasn't. The bed space was completely empty, the duvet tossed messily over it. Her heart sank, but she soon began to smell food cooking. . . or burning. Unable to help herself, she laughed under her breath.

She threw her legs over the side of the bed and stood up, running her fingers through her messy blonde hair in an attempt to tame it. Her bare feet were cold against the solid wood floor, but she didn't care. The sun was shining on her back and it was her birthday.

Thirty, she thought, heaving a sigh, that's a lot of responsibility.

When she heard a glass smash and Seb mumble, "shit," she laughed. Maybe it isn't so much responsibility. She pushed out of her room, only to run into Janie. Her friend shot her a look, "Why don't you get a muzzle for your boyfriend? He clearly doesn't respect anybody but himself."

The base of Riley's throat burned and tears stung her eyes, her jaw clenching. She was beyond sick of it. Once she had recovered, she straightened and continued down the corridor. When she arrived in the doorway of the kitchen, Seb had his back turned to her. He wasn't wearing a shirt either. Her mouth dried upon noticing this.

She watched as he struggled to cook, the smell of burning only growing stronger. As he was preoccupied, she approached him, before slowly trailing her arms around his firm waist. Her fingers splayed over his stomach and she rested her cheek against his warm upper back, the top of her head leaning against the nape of his neck.

"Morning," he said softly. She stood on her tiptoes and glanced down at the burnt pancake mix stuck to the pan. "I was trying to make breakfast for you."

"Maybe you should leave the cooking to me, eh?" she said, looking over at him. He glanced at her with one eyebrow raised and grinned. She smirked at him and kissed him lightly on the nose.

When she leant back on her feet once more, he turned and kissed her hard. "Happy birthday, Princess," he whispered when he drew back. She blushed and smiled wide. "I've got your first present just coming."

"Ooh," she said, clapping her hands gleefully together and grinning. "What is it?"

Seb rolled his blue eyes as he began to scrape away the pancake mix into the bin and set the pan in the sink, before looking pointedly over at Riley. "That would ruin the surprise."

"Aww," she pouted and leant against the countertop, before holding him by the waist and staring up at him.

He took a hold of her face and kissed her lightly, "When's your family getting here?"

Riley smiled as she thought about her younger brother, Sam, and her parents, imagining their reaction when they met Seb. He was going to make a great first impression, she could tell. Seb wouldn't want to upset them. "Tomorrow."

The goofy grin on Seb's face made her smile widen. "So I get you all to myself today then."

"Do you want to tell me what you said to Janie?"

Once those words had left Riley's mouth, Sebastian's face fell. His teeth caught on his bottom lip and his jaw flinched. "She was causing trouble," he said, looking slightly ashamed of himself, "and I wasn't willing to put up with it. I'm sorry, I know you wanted me to stay out of trouble."

He said the last sentence as he walked away, massaging the base of his neck lightly and squeezing his eyes shut. She watched his conflict and felt her heart pounding with guilt. "Seb. . ."