SLEEPSONG (BoyxBoy)✔️

Chapter 103

"Tonight, let's start changing things for the better!" I exclaimed, trying to lighten the mood; I reached past Horst's crutches and clasped his hand, which made him jump. "You, me, your dad, Bash, and Cassidy! All of us! Let's try to have fun at Moonies and mingle all night long!"

"What is this Moonies joint even like?" Horst asked, staring at my hand as if it were some sort of strange new bug that he didn't know how to process. "It's in a mall, Aerin. Can't be that cool."

"You'd think so, right?" I laughed, remembering my own impression. "You'd be wrong, though. I can promise that you're gonna flip when you see it."

"Whatever you say," he grumbled, sullenly looking ahead. "I doubt it though."

If it hadn't been for the way his grip tightened, I would have thought he was being serious, but it was obvious that he was hoping I was right.

I felt a much bigger and hotter palm drape over my right hand, caressing the splint keeping my wrist bone in place before long fingers slid through mine and gently interlaced themselves. I glanced at Sebastian but he wasn't looking at me from what I could tell.

I focused my attention on Cassidy after that. She was looking out the passenger window in front of me, dark hair gleaming under every light that flew past. I sighed, swallowing my bitterness, and pulled my hand out of Horst's as I leaned forward, tapping her shoulder.

She turned and we stared at each other.

"Let's try to... work on... you know, us, too," I said quietly, and she blinked. "I want... well, I'll be honest, I don't know what I want... but what I don't want is for us to be enemies, you know? At the very least, even if we're never... friends... I'd like us to at least be on neutral terms."

"That's why I'm here," she said simply, turning back around and resuming her old position. "If you're going to be a part of our household... part of us... I need... to... move forward. Diana and I have been talking about this a lot, and... well... your behavior is constant, and..."

She trailed off, obviously not sure how to continue.

I let it drop and simply curled into Sebastian's side, sighing when he raised his thick arm and wrapped it around me. He pulled my head against his underarm in the process, and I rolled my eyes before cuddling against him and soaking up his wonderful warmth.

"Oh, that's right," I said, blinking in surprise. "I forgot to tell you that you look nice, Bash."

"Oh?" he snorted, sounding amused. "Really now."

"Yeah, I mean it," I quietly laughed, shifting my position so I wasn't sitting on my own hair. "It's the first time I've ever seen you in something other than a tank top and that leather jacket."

I felt him go still, and then he sighed. "I've been meaning to let go of that jacket for years."

"Hm?" I asked, instantly pulling away and looking at him. "Why? You look good in it."

His face had an unusually grim set to it, which surprised me.

"It was a gift from Jasper," he said quietly. "I don't need it anymore... nor do I want it... but I love wearing black leather, and it's the only vintage bomber jacket left from the nineteen forties. I've looked all over the internet for a replacement and there isn't one of the same cut and make."

I narrowed my eyes in thought... but something didn't add up.

"That's bad math," I said slowly. "You said he's been gone for over a little two hundred years."

"Yes," he agreed, slowly.

"How'd he give you a jacket from the forties then?" I asked, and he stared at me. "The nineteen forties were only a hundred and twenty years ago."