Staying Grounded [BXB]

After Careful Consideration

SEBASTIAN:

"Is Bas home?" I hear from the front door, and the unmistakable voice draws me to an abrupt halt at the bottom of the stairs.

"Come on in, honey, come on in," Judy responds. "He's around here someplace. Are you alright? You're not in college today?"

I groan at the sound of the door clicking shut, and well, there seems little point in me hiding now that he's inside.

"I, uh, felt a little sick, so I've given myself the afternoon—" Craig cuts himself off, his attention hooking me the instant I turn the corner into sight. "Hey."

"If only there was some way you could check in ahead of trekking all the way out here," I say in place of a greeting.

"Figured you'd probably not want to see me."

"And yet here you are anyway."

"Yeah." His gaze flicks to Judy and away as she flashes him an encouraging smile. He seems especially on edge today, antsy fingers tapping an erratic beat against his thighs, and his following words confirm it. "I need to work on your truck."

"Need?"

"Please."

"Little bit dramatic, Craig, don't you think?"

"Oh, Sebastian! Leave the boy be," Judy lightly scolds me. To him, she offers, "Cup of tea? Coffee? Cocoa?"

"Um, I'm good, thanks," he gives his head a slight shake. "If I could just grab the key to the shed, I'll get out of your way."

There's a peculiar smile curling his lips that's not really a smile at all, just a way of holding his face in check. It does nothing to mask his unease. I fix on the rapidly thrumming pulse at the base of his throat, taking a moment's petty pleasure in feigned deliberation as he stares, his eyes crystal sharp.

"Okay, then. Sure," I shrug.

"Really?"

"My truck's currently in worse shape than when you started, so—"

"Great!" The clap of my aunt's hands briskly full-stop me. "I'll stick the kettle on, then. Shut away in that draughty old shed; you'll be wanting something warm." She doesn't wait for a response from either of us before she bustles on past me. "Lovely seeing you again, Craig."

"You, too," Craig belatedly calls after her.

The moment Judy's disappeared around the corner, I make to walk away, too. "I'll get you the key."

And, "Bas," he seizes my arm, wrong-footing me. "Thanks." A look of apprehension pinches his brow at my startled glance down to his hand, like he's worried that any slight foul might screw him. But it's gone in a blink, and I'm released. "For not turning me away."

"What's this really about, Craig?"

"Just, I need to get out of my own head for a while."

"I gathered that much."

"Figured I had two choices. Figured you'd appreciate me coming to you now far more than inevitably finding me later on, somewhere else, doing something entirely more destructive."

A snort escapes me because that is not the admittance I had any mind to expect from him. "Well, okay. That's...very considerate."

He tips his head, letting slip a crooked smirk. "You're welcome."

And, not for the first time, I wonder how the hell I managed to get myself so entangled in his mess. "You're something else."

Sending him back out the front to wait for me at the shed, I follow after Judy to the kitchen, where I find her standing by the window, cheerfully humming. She's adding heaped teaspoons of coffee to two mugs on the counter while the kettle shrilly boils a little further along.