Broken Strings (18+)

09

Half an hour later, I found myself across a house I’d only seen once before. I knocked on the front door desperately. A few minutes passed and no one answered, so I decided to turn around and head back to my car. What the hell was I thinking coming here at this time of night uninvited?

I took no more than five steps before I heard the door creaking open. “M-mischa?”

I spun and came face to face with a sleepy Sebastian. The tears I’d been fighting back finally escaped my eyes. I ran toward him and wrapped my arms around his neck. I rested my head on his chest, my tears soaking his shirt. He placed a hand on the small of my back while the other cupped the back of my head.

I cried and cried until my eyes dried up. All the while, he was just stroking my back, comforting me. Indeed, I found solace in his arms. No empty words of consolation, just warm and genuine company in silence.

When I had somehow composed myself, I looked up at him. At first, I could not read his expression. But when my eyes zeroed in on his, I saw a pool of emotions. And if I’d dare name them, I actually saw tenderness and care in his eyes.

It felt like he was seeing right through my soul. Sebastian stared at me as if I were a diamond – brilliant and hard, but nevertheless fragile. His eyes seemed to shine at that realization.

Fragility was one trait I never associated myself with, and so did other people. I was always the strong and hardheaded woman, never the frail and delicate lady. No one dared call me weak. And I never wanted to be seen as weak.

Yet right now, with Sebastian handling me with so much care, everything felt right. I no longer cared if he saw me in my most fragile and vulnerable state. I just wanted to revel in the way he was taking care of me.

His familiar scent filled my senses. And it felt so damn good.

I looked at the bathroom mirror one last time. I was sure that I looked much better now than when he first saw me outside his house, much like my normal self except for the outfit.

I was wearing his black T-shirt and gray sweatpants, and I couldn’t help but smile. It was my first time wearing another man’s clothes, but it didn’t feel awkward. In fact, it was very comfortable. I wore them because Sebastian actually cared enough to keep me warm tonight.

It was so unlike those times that I would wear my boyfriend’s shirt just so he would get excited by how I look. Oh, fuck it. I wanted to forget about him even just for a night, yet here I am, thinking about those times.

I shook all thoughts of him off my head. I plastered a big smile on my face as I opened the door.

Sebastian was sitting on the edge of the bed – the same bed I laid him on when he was drunk and I took him home. As I recalled that day, shivers ran down my spine, just as they had the first time I felt his lips on mine. The smile on my face faltered, but Sebastian’s expression didn’t change. I guess he still didn’t remember what exactly transpired between us that day.

“How are you feeling now?” His voice was laced with concern.

“A lot better. Thank you, Sebastian. And I’m sorry for disturbing you at this hour. You were sleeping and I shouldn’t have—”

“It’s fine, Mischa,” he said, cutting me off. He stood up and walked toward me. He placed his hands on my shoulders and looked straight into my eyes. “I wouldn’t want it any other way. I want you to know that you can always count on me. Knock on my door whenever you like.” For the first time since he opened the door, I saw him smile and my heart fluttered. “And I’m glad that you did that tonight.”

“Thanks.” It came out like a whisper, but I was sure Sebastian heard it because his smile grew wider.

He led me to the bed, and we both sat on the edge. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“It’s—” I stopped myself as I looked at him. His eyes were so much like Storm’s. They were brothers, after all. Is it true what they say, blood is thicker than water? Then I couldn’t—

“Is it my brother?” My eyes grew wide. Did my face give it away?

“H-how—”

He shrugged. “If he wasn’t your problem, then you would’ve gone to his house instead of mine, right?” Oh, always the rational one.

I nodded. “I think he’s cheating on me,” I murmured. How it hurt even more hearing those words come out of my mouth.

In an instant, Sebastian was already standing. “What?” he asked, flabbergasted.

I grabbed his hand and urged him to sit down. Thankfully, he did. “I said, I think. I still haven’t proven anything yet, but I feel like… I mean, there are signs, you know.”

He nodded, as if he understood completely where I was coming from. “Yes, I do. I felt a shift in my relationship with Anj—something was off even before she broke up with me.” He let out a low chuckle. The sound was from amusement and totally not from bitterness. I guess Sebastian has somehow moved on. Well, at least, one of us was on the way to happiness.

“So… tell me, what made you think Zach’s cheating on you?” he asked in a very calm tone. But suddenly, I couldn’t get the answer past my throat. Funny how Sebastian’s very simple question seemed harder than the one asked by my thesis mentor back in grad school.

It’s not as easy as it should be. I didn’t know how to put it in a way that I won’t be making Storm a monster in his brother’s eyes. How could I tell Sebastian about his infidelity? I mean, I haven’t actually proven it. All he’d given me were pieces that I assembled to complete the picture.

© Cyan