I'm gonna be there to protect you.

"Come on! You gotta come in with us! It'll be less scary if we're in a group!" your friend, Sami, says trying to persuade you into going through the haunted house that her and Megan had somehow dragged you to.

"No thanks, I'm good. You guys go have fun!" you say trying your best to stay calm.

"Are you sure? We don't wanna just leave you out here by yourself." Megan asks, giving it one last shot.

"No, seriously, I'm okay. I promise you my anxiety would be way worse in there than it'll be out here. It's nice out so I'll just chill on the grass over there." you say, pointing to a patch of undecorated grass on the side of the house.

"Okaaay, if you're sure! We'll see you on the other side!" Sami says as she grabs Megan's hand and runs inside the house, disappearing behind a black-out curtain.

You take a big sigh of relief. You really weren't sure if they were going to let you get out of this one. You pull your phone out to see no notifications; who would be texting you anyways when Sami and Megan were with you? Putting your phone back in your pocket you walk over to the side of the house and sink down against the wall until you're sitting on the grass. Folding your legs under yourself, you pull out the book you've been reading, "We Need to Talk About Kevin" by Lionel Shriver.

A few minutes go by and you're suddenly pulled from the story by a strangely familiar voice, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah I jus-" you start to say as you look up and instantly recognize those blue eyes. You shake your head realizing you must have gone crazy. It couldn't really be Sebastian, could it? Why would he be at some dumb haunted house in the middle of LA?

"Doll?"

"What? Oh, right, yeah I'm okay. My friends are inside; I'm just waiting for them."

"Your friends went in without you?"

"Yeah, this isn't really my thing. I love Halloween and horror movies and everything, but my anxiety can't handle jump scares. Especially ones in real life."

"That's understandable," he says sitting down in the grass next to you. "I'm Sebastian by the way."

"I- I'm y/n" you say, stumbling over your words as you realize what's happening.

"It's nice to meet you, y/n."

"So, you know my story. How come you're by yourself?"

"I was just in the neighborhood and wanted to see what was around. I was walking around and heard the music so I decided to come check it out." he says smiling and licking his lips, the way you'd seen him do a million times in videos and gifs. "So, your anxiety is pretty bad with this stuff?"

"Yeah, haha. I tried going through a dumb haunted jail with my family and ended up having a panic attack and leaving through an emergency exit. They talked me into coming because I wanted to face my fears, but I totally chickened out. I hope they're having fun though."

"Wait, so you wanted to go in but backed out at the last second?" he asks with a confused yet confident face. He smirks like he had an idea which makes you give him a face that says, "what are you thinking?" for you.

Suddenly he stands to his feet and holds out his hand in front of you.

"What?" you ask.

"Come on. You're gonna face your fears doll; and I'm gonna be there to protect you."

You look down at your book that's now sitting on your thigh.

"I don't know, I was pretty enveloped in this book." you say, giving him a smirk of your own. He licks/bites his lips again and says, "Now you're chickening out on me, doll? Come on, I've got you." His words are somehow so reassuring. The next thing you know, you take his hand and follow him around to the front door. You put your book back in your bag and look at him nervously.