Ghost Of You (Formally Titled Sebastian The Traveler)

Chapter Two (REWRITTEN)

Sebastian didn't understand the reason behind why he had to follow her home. How could he? It wasn't something he had ever experienced before. She was the sun, pulling him close and yanking him into her own gravitational orbit. While it was slightly annoying to be left with no volition, curiosity would always get the best of him. So he didn't fight it, but instead found himself feeling much akin to a dog on a leash. Ten feet of distance appeared to be the max before he was violently jerked back to the blonde's proximity.

He studied her intently, not bothering to make up a fictional story about her life as he had done with countless others. He did imagine her inner thoughts rotating swiftly and frequently, as her facial expressions were more animated than those he had seen before. Vigilant and alert, her blue eyes fluttered over everyone and everything, never lingering for too long. Never content to focus on only one thing. With furrowed brows and a scrunched nose, she picked at her nails and tugged at her sleeves and bounced her leg–only the left, never the right, though he wasn't sure as to why. The more he watched, the more intrigued he became. Why her, he wondered, but followed nonetheless.

The feline did present a slight problem though. Sebastian wasn't surprised by Milo's reaction to his presence. Often dogs would bark or growl, cats would swat at him—animals did have a keen sixth sense, so it wasn't anything he hadn't experienced before. The issue became when she turned to examine the space behind her, the one that was thoroughly pissing her feline friend off... The one that he occupied. Her eyes flickered around the empty space before suddenly landing on Sebastian's. If he had needed air for life, it would have done him no good at that moment as it was violently ripped from his lungs. In a split second of unintentional eye contact, something in his stomach seemed to clinch. A little twist. A knot he had never felt before wound itself deep inside him as he suddenly thought she could see him. But it was short lived as she broke away from her inspection of the wall and told Milo to quit being so "extra."

Sebastian followed her through the apartment while Milo kept himself smashed against the wall, an extremely wary eye on the unannounced intruder of his sacred space. And it was not a large space by any means, at least not for such a big cat. So when Avery began undressing, Sebastian turned respectfully, inspecting this tiny space she called home.

The entryway was nonexistent, only a short hallway with two closed doors on his left hand side. Hardwood floors that had obviously seen better days lead the way to a kitchen on his right. At least, that is what he assumed it to be though he doubted anyone could properly cook in such a small area. There was a stove that has lived out its purpose, a refrigerator from possibly the eighties and smooshed between both was a chipped, ceramic single basin sink with almost no counter space. Actually, he couldn't even refer to that area as a "counter". It was basically trim for the sink to sit upon. Above the old stove was a stainless steel microwave, probably the newest and most modern thing in the whole place.

Painted white like the rest of the apartment and caked in thick, careless layers, were three cabinets. Two above the sink, the other high on top of the fridge. Below that sink was a single door for entrance to the piping and three small drawers beside that. There wasn't much room for plates, cups and utensils, better yet pots and pans or non-perishable food items. Sebastian decided then that there was absolutely no way this girl cooked.

The "kitchen" opened up into a "larger" space, with a worn couch. The microfiber suede was stained, discolored blotches with no rhyme or reason. The armrests had begun to tear at the seams, the fluffy stuffing emerging between various stitchings. A single end table was pushed into the corner, holding a small lamp, a charging cable, and a framed picture.

Sebastian tilted his head, trying to piece together the relationship between the people in the photograph. There was the girl he followed home, of course, but she was... different. She was laughing, showing perfectly straight white teeth with half hooded eyes that crinkled at the edges. He frowned, puzzled by the knot that began to twist his stomach once more. He decided he would revisit that feeling later in an attempt to unravel that knot.

Straying away from the girl that does odd things to his tummy, he instead focused on the other two individuals. Noting the similarities in eyes, noses, and smiles he made an educated guess that these were her parents. Not ready to address the knot just yet, he moved on.

A small flat screen sat between two large windows and upon a tiny bookcase crammed to the brim with paperbacks opposite the couch, all uninteresting to him. His half chuckle came out as more of a smirk, thinking how typical this age group of females were.

But what really grabbed his attention was the easel in the far corner staged on top of a sheet of cloth to protect the floor. It held a blank canvas. Tossed on the floor haphazardly lay a black, polyester bag chucked full of opened tubes of paint. A few brushes lay scattered about around a palette stained with murky colors.

And as an obnoxious tone filled the room, he finally turned to really look at the girl who pulled him home. Random emotional queues was generally as far as he went but now he considered that maybe he should look a bit deeper. Putting the phone up to her ear, he gave her even more of his attention now.

While physically there wasn't anything spectacular about her—average height, average weight, maybe a few pounds more—he could agree she was pretty. Eyeing the way the strands of hair fell from the messy bun on top of her head, the way she sighed at the phone after, "Hey, mom," the stained t-shirt she wore that was two sizes too big, and the shorts that exposed her bare legs by being two sizes too small—she wasn't just pretty.

The knot tightened more.

And Sebastian decided then to do something he had never done before, something others of his kind had no problem doing, something he promised he would never do. And when she retreated with her phone into the bathroom, he decided now would be the perfect time to do that "something."