Fortuity // Seth Clearwater

.7.

"Wow, so this place is really your whole family then."

He nodded with a smile. "I wouldn't change it for a thing."

"What do your parents do?"

He sighed. "Mom's a nurse, and she's high up on the tribal council now. But uh, my dad passed away a few years back."

His words were sad but straightforward, clearly having time to heal but never fully getting over it.

I reached across the table and grabbed his hand in mine, once again feeling the sparks between our fingers. "I'm really sorry, Seth." 

He shrugged. "Thanks. I try to think of it as a blessing that he had as much time as he did. But it was definitely a hard adjustment. Leah went through hell after it happened." 

I squeezed his hand as he continued. 

"My dad was very family oriented, a really fair person, always wise and level headed and happy - nice to everyone, you know? Easy to love. So when he was gone, my mother and Leah fought a lot, not having him there to keep the peace. Plus Leah was going through a bad breakup, she used to be engaged to Sam."

My eyes widened at the added information and I decided I would come back to that later.

"You know, Seth, I haven't known you for that long. But it sounds to me that your father is living on in you. All the good parts about him that you just listed, are the first things I noticed about you. And I think he'd be really proud of you, and contented knowing that you were living on in his legacy with such strength."

Seth stared at me across from the booth with sparkling eyes. He dissected me as he stared, completely awe-struck.

Without uttering another word, he stood up from his place across from me, and I got worried for a second thinking I had said something wrong or that upset him. But instead, he sat beside me on my side of the booth so that he could pull me into a warm, grateful hug.

I gladly accepted the embrace, loving the feeling of his skin on mine, feeling so safe in his arms and surrounded by his scent, breathing him in admirably. 

"Thank you, Oakley." he whispered into my hair after a few seconds. "Really, you don't know how much that means."

I squeezed him back gently and rubbed his back. "You're stronger than you realise, Seth."

He pulled away eventually, leaving me with a pang of disappointment and craving his warmth again. I loved that about him. Thankfully, he remained on my side of the booth rather than returning to sit across from me.

"Says you. Your family situation can't have been easy?" he questioned.

I shrugged. "I've always been a pretty independent person I guess. I always wanted a dad or a sister or just someone else but I learned pretty quickly how to take care of myself and accept the bare minimum as a blessing."

"I'm sorry." he uttered.

"No, don't be. I found my happy ending. I have a brother now," I said smiling, referring to Paul.

Seth smiled. "Paul loves you so much. You're really good for him, you balance him out. I think you guys would have been an unstoppable duo if you'd grown up together," he giggled.

"Even better, we can be the unstoppable duo now. That airhead needs all the calm energy around that he can get!" I joked, craving the sound of Seth's laugh in my ears again as it was the most beautiful, musical sound I'd ever heard.

Fuck, what was he doing to me...

---

"Paul, I'm back!" I called, entering the living room.