WHEN WE ARRIVE back at the airport in Malibu, I'm so exhausted it's hard to keep my eyes open.We'd arrived just past sunset, the pale orange slowly turning into a bleeding black across the sky.
Oba's car appears in front of the building and Sebastian guides me to the car. "You can sleep once we're in the car, okay?" he murmurs. I nod solemnly. "For someone with such a sucky sleep schedule, you sure are tired for 6:00 p.m."
I scowl at him as best as I can. "I'm jet-lagged. Sue me."
"Maine is only three hours ahead," he reminds me, stepping around a family of five.
I roll my eyes. "Yeah, well I've had an eventful day. And night for that matter. It's your fault. You wore me out."
Sebastian laughs briskly. "You wore yourself out, Brayls."
We're in the car by then and Oba is grinning at us widely. "Welcome home, boys. How was the trip?"
Sebastian gives her a brief summary but all I can manage is a thumbs up. "Forgive him. He's jet-lagged."
Oba makes a face. "But isn't Maine only—"
"You're both mocking me," I grumble, still leaning into Sebastian's side. His arm wraps around me easily, sliding me closer to him. I dive into his warmth and shut my eyes tightly. "Good night."
Aunt Amanda laughs as she begins to drive off, playing soft R&B through the car. The last thing I can remember is Sebastian's lips on my forehead and him whispering to me.
"Good night, baby."
When I wake up, it's not in Sebastian's arms, much to my dismay. I'm in grey shorts and no shirt too, which is also discerning considering I'd been in black sweatpants and a hoodie when we'd boarded the plane. I glance at the clock. 1:00 a.m. Groaning, I pull myself out of bed and search around for my phone.
I eventually find it tucked in a pocket of my plane sweatpants. I pull it up and search for his contact, deciding if he didn't answer I'd just try to get back to sleep. I could tell already that it wouldn't really work; I felt way too awake.
He does answer, though. His face pops up on the screen, blue eyes reflecting the light from his phone in the darkness of his room. "Morning, sunshine," he rasps and his voice sends a pang of longing through me.
"Please tell me it was you who put me in bed and stripped me and not some random maternal ghost."
Sebastian laughs, sitting up so that I can see his entire face. "It was me. Although, I find it hilarious that the only alternative would've been a ghost."
"A maternal ghost," I correct and he grins again. "I woke up and you weren't there. That was slightly depressing."
He raises an eyebrow. "Only slightly?"
"It was mortally depressing," I amend. "I miss you."
I half expect him to make a joke about how I'd seen him less than seven hours ago, but he doesn't. "I miss you, too," he admits and my heart pounds against my chest. "I forgot that the world wasn't just you and me. My parents are back home again."
"How do you feel about that?" I murmur, rearranging my pillow to make it more comfortable.
Sebastian's eyes roll. "They wanted all the details about our trip. It's always the same, B. They pretend to care one day and then the next they're in Tallahassee or Timbuktu."
"Timbuktu is a real place?" I ask, eyes wide. He smiles teasingly at me and I grin. "I'm sorry, Sebastian."
"No worries. I suppose I'll see you at school tomorrow and I can pretend that you're the only other person alive a bit easier," he remarks.
I bite my lip. "About school...have you realized that this is sort of the first time we'll be going to school together?"
There's a silence. Then, "B, we've gone to the same school since the fourth grade."
I shake my head, laughing. "No, I mean, like, together together. You know, as boyfriends."
I can see the wheels clicking in his head. "Huh. No, I guess I didn't think about it. Look, it's like what I said before. We don't have to tell people about our relationship. The people that matter know. Who cares what everyone else thinks?"
A sinking feeling drops in my stomach. "People are going to talk if we're just suddenly together all the time."
"Hey," he responds, looking into the camera intently. "You're mine. I don't care who knows it. Okay?"
"Okay," I whisper and a slow smile spreads to my face. He returns it easily.
"Besides, it's not like we'll make out in between every passing period. It's gonna be fine," he assures me, winking softly.
I nod, biting on my bottom lip. "Sebastian?"
"Yeah, baby?" he responds and my smile returns full force.
"I'm really glad I found you on the balcony that night at Devin's party," I whisper.
Sebastian grins just as widely as me. "I'm really glad you found me, too."
€
Putting back on the Academy uniform felt like waking up from an beautiful dream. The last time I went to school I'd been heartbroken and gotten high with Cora and a bunch of stoners. Now I had Sebastian back and felt as light as ever.
I jog downstairs to grab a yogurt and banana where Oba is sipping a morning coffee. "Hey," I say. "Thanks for picking us up from the airport last night. Sorry I was so tired. It was an eventful couple of days."
"Evidently," she says with a smirk. I furrow my eyebrows as I follow her gaze down to my throat. It was on full display since I'd tied my hair back. I blush knowing exactly what was there and knowing there was no way around this.
I giggle awkwardly. "Bruises. I—um, accidentally ran into a door?"
"I know what hickies are, Braylen. You forget I was 17 once, too. I had one boyfriend named Jacob who used to love to slowly—"
"Okay, I'm out of here!" I exclaim, sticking my fingers in my ears. "Have a beautiful day!"
Oba is still laughing as I shut the door behind me, breathing in the fresh air. I take my hair down immediately, running a hand through the strands and meticulously covering my neck. After a minute or so, I check my watch. Shouldn't Robyn be here by now?
Instead, a familiar BMW pulls up to my house, blasting what sounded like a band I'd been obsessed with six years ago. I lower my eyes and peer into the window to see Sebastian sporting sunglasses and leaning with one arm out the window. "Morning," he calls out, waving with one hand.
I laugh once, bounding down the steps and into his car. "This is new," I remark as I slide into the front seat.
My butt barely hits the seat before he's leaning over and kissing me, lips gliding against mine easily. I can taste the still fresh toothpaste on his lips and prop myself up a bit, deepening the kiss. Sebastian's hands wind their way into my hair and he tugs on the strands once, causing a soft moan to leave his mouth. Then, he's pulling my hair back, causing me to break the kiss. I glower at him but he just laughs.
"Seatbelt," he reminds me. I continue glaring at him as I click it on and then he's driving away from my house.
"I wasn't done," I retort, crossing my arms across my chest.
He laughs again, reaching over and finding my hand. "Oh, I know. But at the rate you were going we wouldn't even make it to school before third period. Somebody's gotta be responsible for your education."
I roll my eyes at him. "Where's Robs? Not that I hate you picking me up. Because I don't. I really, really don't."
"She's driving with Devin. Set it all up this morning," he responds with a cheeky grin. "Did I surprise you?"
I smile at him. "You seem...I don't know. Happy, I guess."
He grins again. "Yeah, well. It was bound to happen eventually."
Sebastian glances over at me and I can't help but blush under his eyes.
We chat some more as we drive up to the Academy, but I can feel my stomach tightening as we pulled up. Sebastian and his friends sitting with Robyn and I was nothing, just a random occurrence we could write off as a one time thing. But showing up to school in Sebastian Grey's car meant something else entirely.
I could feel everyone's eyes on us, just like when we'd pulled that prank on Windsor and first seemed to be cordial. I swallow back the lump in my throat as Sebastian parks. "Hey," Sebastian whispers, leaning over to me. He was far enough away for it to seem friendly but he gave my hand a squeeze underneath the dashboard, away from any prying eyes. "The world's just you and me. Okay?"
I smile softly at him. "Okay."
He grins and squeezes my hand once more before letting go and stepping out of the car. I follow suit, grabbing my bag and slinging it around my shoulder. Sebastian locks the car and I sidle up to his side as we walk into the school together. The stares only get worse as we walk through the hall. I do my best to ignore them.
Robyn, Devin, and Hunter are all waiting at my locker and I break into a grin immediately. I'd missed Robyn, obviously, but I realized that I'd missed Sebastian's friends too. Somewhere along the way they'd become my friends. I grin at them. "Happy Thursday!"
Robyn wraps me up in a hug quickly, diving into my arms. "Please don't ever leave me again. I missed you so much!"
I grin into her shoulder. "Okay, okay. It was just two days."
I pull away from the hug and slap hands with Devin. "Hey," I say, smiling at him.
He nods his head. "Good to see you sober. And sporting three new hickies. Hmm. Somebody had a good vacation."
I glare at Sebastian who's leaning against the locker. He's smirking victoriously. "I think they look pretty on him, thank you for noticing, Dev," he says with a cheeky smile. "You can hardly see them, especially with your hair down, Brayls. Relax."
I hold my hands up. "Fine. I'm relaxing. Yay."
The bell rings then and we say our goodbyes before heading to class. School isn't completely unbearable for once and I find myself tuned into my lessons. By the time I make it to Calculus, however, it seems my luck has run out. Cora is sitting at my desk, clearly waiting for me to arrive. I heave a sigh and slide next to her. "Hey," I mumble.
"Braylen. You're back," she says, smiling awkwardly. "I felt really bad about last Friday. I was planning to apologize Monday but you weren't there and Robyn said you were out of town, so."
I raise an eyebrow. "What did you need to apologize for? You did nothing wrong."
"I shouldn't have let things go that far. If Forrester was saying you were too gone then something's clearly wrong," she remarks. "You and Sebastian seem good now, though."
I can't help but look over my shoulder even though she spoke softly. "Yeah. Yeah, we're good."
Cora smiles softly. "Just be careful, okay?"
Indignation flares in my chest but I squash it down. "Yeah. Thanks, Cora."
She smiles again before standing up and returning to her own seat. I sigh and try to pay attention to class but she'd distracted me. 'Be careful?' As if Sebastian was dangerous for me. I sigh.
My phone buzzes in my pocket and I pull it out discreetly, blushing as I see Sebastian's contact.
s: room 106. five minutes. ask for a bathroom break.
Butterflies take flight in my stomach. I raise my hand and Mr. Davis calls on me. "Can I stop by the bathroom?" I ask, fighting a grin.
Mr. Davis permits me the hall pass and I grab it quickly, walking out the class. Room 106 isn't far and as soon as I arrive at the door, it opens. Sebastian's there looking completely stunning and twirling his set of school keys around in his hand. "They really should take those away from you," I remark before I grab his shirt and kiss him.
I faintly register the door shutting closed behind us and loop my hands around Sebastian's neck, sliding my tongue into his mouth with ease. He lets me dominate him this time, completely giving power up to me and I relish in it. I slide my lips away from his lips and down to his neck, biting and sucking on the skin. I stay at his neck for nearly three minutes, nipping the skin until I was satisfied. He groans lowly as I do, leaning back onto a desk with his hands.
Sebastian curses lowly as I undo his belt buckle and take him in my mouth, keeping my eyes on him the entire time. He was already hard.
"Braylen," he moans softly, the word sounding like prayer on his lips. His face contorts as I work, fingers finding their way into my hair as he softly tugs at the strands. He doesn't last long, finishing in my mouth as his hands go limp in my hair. I fix him back up, looping his belt back and smoothing out the wrinkles in his shirt.
I stand up again and he kisses me once more before pulling back and touching his neck. "You gave me a hickey, didn't you?" he asks, eyes electric and voice beyond sexy.
I smirk at him. "Don't worry. They look pretty on you."