affluenza (1.) | ✔️

Okay Days

        Sebastian chuckles once. "What's the dog's name?"

        I look up at his tired face, grinning. "Braylen Jr., of course. Every day would be like a beach day. I'd always yell at you for tracking sand in the house and you'd always yell at me for yelling at you. And then we'd laugh and you'd kiss me and everything would be okay."

        Sebastian smiles wistfully, eyes drooping. "Go on."

        "I think we'd have to host a family dinner, like, every Monday night," I whisper, speaking slower as my own eyes begin to drop with tiredness. "We'd invite everybody: Robyn, Devin, Hayley, Hunter. They'd all be married, too, of course. Respectively."

        "I think I missed our wedding," he mumbles playfully.

        I grin. "Oh, it was great. You cried."

        Sebastian chuckles sleepily and I continue. "We'd never have any bad days," I whisper into his chest. "I mean, we would, but they'd really just be okay days because we'd have each other. We'd adopt kids, a boy and a girl. You could teach them to surf and I'll teach them to ice skate. I think you'd be a good dad. Do you?"

        I look up at Sebastian only to find his eyes closed, lashes pressing against his cheeks. I raise up a bit and plant a kiss on his nose before nestling into his chest again and shutting my own eyes.

€

I wake up to the sound of a bird chirping outside an window. I groan softly and reach out to find more of Sebastian's warmth, but there was only the coldness of my sheets. I sit up quickly, pushing my messy hair out of my face. Sebastian is sitting on my window ledge, staring out of my open window.

"Morning," he murmurs, looking at me. He was holding a cup of coffee and looked more like a model than a teenage boy next to the pink and purple sunrise. I raise an eyebrow at him, his messy blonde hair and bare tanned skin.

I glance over at my phone, checking the time. With a small smile, I crawl out from the covers and walk over to him. He opens his legs a bit and I slide into the open space, leaning back onto his chest. "How'd you get the coffee?" I mumble, intertwining our fingers.

Sebastian chuckles softly. "Your aunt. She just left for work."

I start. "What? She knows you slept over? Sebastian, I'm dead!"

"You're not," he mumbles, kissing my neck softly. "Don't worry; I told her we weren't sexually active at all."

I press my palms to my face, groaning. "Great. Yeah, that fixes everything."

Sebastian laughs again, wrapping his arms tightly around me. I bite my bottom lip and look out at the sunrise. "Why are you up so early? The bed got cold," I mumble as my eyes begin to droop.

"Just thinking," he whispers back.

I crane my neck as best as I can to look at him. His expression was stoic. "I demand you to stop that immediately."

Sebastian smiles playfully. "You demand me?"

"Maybe," I hum unsurely. He laughs and presses his lips to my cheek. I turn back around, smiling at the content I felt. "What were you thinking about?"

I can't see him, but I feel Sebastian shrug. "Mackintosh. Aaron and Nate. You," he murmurs. "I know you said you're not scared but I am. If something happens to you—"

"It won't," I assure him. "Everything will go according to plan. The only thing you have to worry about is yourself. Like, staying clean, for example. I can't do all of this for you just for you to start using again."

"I don't like using drugs, Braylen," he argues. "I don't want to."

I squeeze his hand. "Then don't. Do you know how scared I was when Devin told me you were seizing? I mean, I know it was only because the drugs were laced but what if you didn't wake back up? What if you hit your head or choked on your own vomit? What if Devin wasn't there, what if he and I had no clue how to help—?"

"Look who's worrying now," Sebastian jokes. It wasn't very funny. "I won't put you in a position like that again, okay? My mess isn't your mess."

I shake my head. "Only it is. Because I l—"

I pause. That's the second time I'd almost admitted it in 24 hours. It felt like the words were on the tip of my tongue, but I couldn't get them out. I swallow hard. "Because I'm your boyfriend and like it or not, I'm always going to want to keep you safe. Got it?"

Sebastian sighs deeply and I can tell he wasn't pleased with the severity of my words. He still holds me tightly, though, and I nestle into his arms. "I was also thinking about that future you said we'd have. Last night before I fell asleep. Do you believe in it?"

I nod, leaning my head backwards to kiss his chin. "I do. Don't you?"

"I don't know," he whispers. "I don't know if I can."

"It's okay. I can believe enough for the both of us."