I wake up the next morning facing the wall with Sebastian's arms tightly wrapped around me. Did he hold onto me the entire night? I slowly turn around to face him. He's still asleep. I carefully run my fingers through his hair and stroke his face. I'm not sure if this is a weird thing to do, but I can't help it. I want to admire him whenever I can and right now he looks so peaceful and stunning.
He really is the boy I fell for and I'm glad it's him. I feel comfortable and understood when I'm with him. We seem so different but deep down relate to each other a lot. When we're together, my worries simply disappear and I feel like I'm home. It's all thanks to him. I don't want it to be anyone else. At this point, I'm trying not to worry too much about whether he likes me back or not, because regardless of whether we end up together or not, as long as I'm allowed to love him, and as long as I can keep him by my side, I'm happy.
He slowly opens his eyes and glances at me. I grin at him. "Good Morning", I softly say and he rubs his eyes and stretches himself. "Morning. I hope you slept well, Sami", he says and I nod my head. "All thanks to you. Thanks for keeping me warm and safe last night." He grins and looks away nervously. "No worries. I'm gonna get ready right away. I want to meet up with Abby and quickly get it over with. I'm tired of having to worry about her." He explains and wraps the blanket around me before getting up and heading into the bathroom to get changed.
Before he leaves, he tells me when to come over to his place for dinner. I truly hope that him and Abby will be able to discuss this properly and Seb will be able to leave this situationship without complications. He's already been struggling enough thanks to all this. I stay in bed for a little longer before heading outside to take care of my animals.
Sam comes over as well to talk to me for a bit before heading back home to get ready for his trip. I tell him what Seb and I have planned for today and he sighs. "I'm so glad this is finally happening. Thank you, Sami. Thank you for being the last push he needed in order to step into the right direction. I truly hope everything goes well. I can't wait to get back and hear all about it!"
I'm so glad Sam is supportive of Seb's decision. I hope that, when all of this is over, Sam and Sebastian can finally be friends again without Abigail stepping between them. And of course I also want to spend more time with Seb alone, without us having to worry about another person. I'm positive things are changing for the better.
After a couple of hours, I head up to Sebastian's place. We meet up at the lake first to discuss how things went with Abigail. I see him sitting on the ground and plop down next to him. "How did it go?", I ask curiously, with a tint of anxiety hidden behind my words. Abigail is a very stubborn person. I'm scared she somehow manipulated Sebastian into switching to her side.
He takes a deep breath in. "This was probably the most stressful discussion I've ever had in my life. Even more than those I have with my mom and Demetrius. I tried my hardest to be calm and rational but she kept telling me to stop being an idiot. She told me she's the only one who knows what's best for me and the only one I should trust. She tried to convince me that you're a bad influence in my life. It all pissed me off so much that I snapped at some point. I got angry with her and gave her the same energy back and at some point she told me to get out and angrily shut the door behind me. But she got the message. If she attempts to sneak back into my life again, I won't go easy on her anymore.", he explains while looking at the water.
I grab his hand and gently rub it with my thumb. "I'm proud of you, Sebastian. You handled the situation very well. Do you need a short break before we head to dinner?". He nods his head and puts his hand in his jacket, trying to pull something out. Is he going to light another cigarette? He opens his hand to show me a piece of candy and throws it in his mouth. "My favorite flavor", he states and I laugh.
"So you stopped smoking?", I ask and he sighs. "Kind of. When I'm able to, I try to eat some candy instead or chew on some gum but that only works when I'm in a comfortable environment. I'm sure it'll get easier in the future, though. Don't worry.", he explains. "I hope you don't feel forced to stop because of me". He shakes his head "No. Like I said, I never really enjoyed smoking. I just didn't have anyone that cared enough to stop me."
I'm glad he's trying to get better, both physically and mentally. I feel as though I was able to help him move on with his life and I'm so happy that he gave me that chance. I want to learn and grow with him forever. I will do my best to help him through any kind of situation, just like he always helps me.
After a couple more minutes, Sebastian gets up and asks me to follow him to his place. Entering his house, I can already smell the food and my mouth starts to water. Sebastian grins at me. "My mom is a great cook. Almost as good as you", Sebastian states and I roll my eyes at him. "Stop. There's no way I'm better than her", I reply. "Yeah, you're right, actually", he responds and chuckles. I gently slap his arm and grin at him.
We enter the kitchen. Robin notices us and gives me a big smile. "Hey! I'm so happy you guys are finally here. Food will be ready in a bit. Please take a seat already.", she greets us while running around the kitchen. She's definitely better at multi-tasking than I am. Maru is already seated at the table and she waves at me and gestures me to sit down in front of her.
"I'm working on an automatic food dispenser. Hit me up if you ever need one for your farm, okay?", she offers me and I grin at her. "Sounds like something I used to build in Minecraft". Both her and Sebastian look at me surprised. Before Seb can say anything, Maru continues the conversation. "You play Minecraft too?", she asks me excitedly and I nod my head. We begin talking about it more. I feel like Seb wants to join in every now and then but something is stopping him. He has a grin on his face anyway.
Suddenly Demetrius enters the room and chuckles. "You seem to be getting along very well. I'm sure you're also blown away by the amazing ideas my Maru has", he smiles. I glance over at Sebastian who is rolling his eyes and avoiding to look at Demetrius. "I definitely am. Both her and Sebastian are absolute geniuses. Their work always amazes me", I reply. Demetrius grins "If Sebastian wasn't so stubborn, I feel like he could learn a lot from Maru". I notice Sebastian's posture tensing up. "Sebastian has a lot to teach as well. I definitely learned a lot from him", I state in return. Demetrius' smile fades and he silently takes a seat next to Maru.
The sudden silence gets interrupted by Robin placing all the pots down and handing each of us a glass. Finally, she also sits down next to Demetrius and asks us all to fill up our plates. She made lasagna along with a mixed salad and some cherry pie for dessert. I begin to eat and happily wave with my hands. Robin smiles at me. "Does it taste okay?", she asks and I look at her with my eyes opened wide. "Are you kidding? This tastes amazing!". She chuckles "Well, in that case, I'm glad."
"Maru, I made sure to book your flight for spring next year. That way you can get used to your new place as soon as possible", Demetrius suddenly states and I look at Maru confused. "Are you going somewhere?", I ask and she quickly nods her head. "I'm going to stay in Canada for some studies. My dad has acquaintances there that offered to let me stay over and receive some private lessons". I grin at her "That sounds really cool! I hope you'll learn a lot there!".
Demetrius laughs, "Oh she will. She's more skilled than most of the people that are going to tutor her. She won't have any problems whatsoever". Maru grins slightly and takes another bite of her lasagna. Suddenly Robin speaks up. "By the way, Sebastian. When are you and Abby going to start looking for jobs?", Sebastian glances at her and takes a deep breath in. "I already have one". All three of them stare at him with eyes wide open and in slight disbelief.
"What is it?", Robin asks and Sebastian replies with "programmer freelancing", without once taking his eyes off his food. Demetrius scoffs "We meant a real job. You can't earn enough money for the city by drawing your silly little cartoons". Sebastian's eyebrow twitches for a second. "Actually, if I wanted to earn enough money for the city through freelancing, I definitely could. I already made quite a lot. However, since you already mentioned it, I'm not moving to the city".
Robin let's her fork fall down in shock accidentally and quickly grabs it again "I'm sorry. Sebby? What do you mean you're not moving to the city? That's been your plan for years now!" Sebastian shakes his head. "No, mom. It was Abby's plan, not mine. Also please, stop calling me Sebby. I hate that nickname." Maru looks at him confused. "So you and Abby are finally leaving each other alone?". Sebastian nods his head and Demetrius scoffs. "Did she break up with you?".
Sebastian shakes his head. "We were never together. She wanted us to run away together but it was her wish. I don't want this anymore and earlier today I told her that I'm not playing along with her stupid little idea anymore. I want to stay here and do my hardest to make my work be well-known, so that maybe I can earn enough money by working from home.".
Demetrius' facial expression seems annoyed. "Sebastian, come to your senses. You're not going to achieve anything by mindlessly typing away at your computer all day. How are you ever going to succeed by working from home?" Sebastian furrows his brows. "How is Maru's work any different? Why do you praise and support her but talk shit about me constantly? It fucking pisses me off!". Robin puts her hand on Sebastian's and gently tells him to calm down.
Demetrius shakes his head. "He's getting angry because he knows I'm right. Maru is younger than him and is already a great scientist. Sebastian has achieved nothing so far, and he knows it. Moving to the city could've at least gotten him a job as a cashier but now there's really no hope.", he says. I'm fidgeting with my hands. What Demetrius is throwing at Sebastian is truly mean and simply not true whatsoever. Seb is an incredibly smart person and I've seen some of his work. He needs more recognition, but he has extremely high potential.
Suddenly Sebastian gets up and slams his hands on the table. "Stop acting like you know anything about me. All you've been doing all these years is shaping Maru into what you always wanted to be as a child and forcing mom into supporting you both through it. You built her an entire lab and gave her the money for anything science related to make her like it more. You never once showed interest in me, because I'm not like you. I don't want to be like you. I despise you and the way you treat me so much that I ended up hating myself too. Whenever mom tried to defend me, you'd shut her down real quick. You're a terrible person and I will never see you as my dad.", he screams out and then angrily disappears.
Everyone is incredibly taken aback by what just happened. I glance at Demetrius. He makes eye contact with me and scoffs nervously. "Ignore that, Sami. He's just being an angsty teenager. He's too blind to see that all I'm trying to do is tell him that his weird little dream of being a programmer won't get him anywhere. He's not smart enough for any of that, and it hurts to see him put so many expectations on himself that he will never be able to reach".
I shake my head at him. "No. You're getting this all wrong. I mean, no disrespect, but I feel like you haven't been paying enough attention to Sebastian whatsoever. I've only been spending a few months by his side, but the things I've learned from him have stuck with me. He's an incredible writer. He writes entire story lines for the games that he wants to create and even designs the characters. All by himself. He knows how to code. He spends hours explaining it all to me. I know absolutely nothing, but his passion and enthusiasm always makes me want to hear more. He gets so excited and his face lights up when I ask him what he's working on. He's such a deep thinker, and his thoughts and ideas make his story lines so much more creative and fascinating. Plus, he's great at playing his keyboard and I can't wait to see him and Sam perform on stage sometime. He's such a talented person, yet he questions his skills constantly because nobody ever believes in him. Nobody ever cares to ask him about his ideas. Nobody ever once told him that they're proud of what he's doing. The fact that you put Maru above him and make him feel so inferior has also stopped him from building a connection with his own sister.", I glance at Maru, who is silently listening and staring at the table with a frown on her face.
I then turn to look at Robin, who seems to be holding back tears. I sigh. "I beg you. Please just take one actual look at everything Sebastian has created and acknowledge the potential he has. I promise you, he won't disappoint you. He never disappointed me either."
Demetrius bites his lip and takes one last look at me before silently getting up and leaving into his bedroom, shortly followed by Robin. I take this as a sign that it's probably time to check up on Sebastian. I notice that his bedroom door is open so he's probably left to sit by the lake again. I head outside and notice him sitting there with a cigarette in his mouth. I take a seat next to him and he avoids looking at me.
"I'm sorry. I'm too embarrassed", he says. I place my hand on his leg and subtly smile at him. His face begins to soften up and he throws the cigarette away. "I didn't mean to cause a scene but I just don't know how to get my point across anymore. I feel so misunderstood", he explains "and they always blame it on me being an angsty teenager. Whenever Maru is upset about something not going her way, she gets whatever she wants in order to make her feel better. What do I get? A scolding and the silent treatment."
I feel so incredibly sorry for Sebastian. I know he's not mad at Maru or his mom. It's only Demetrius who's giving him a hard time. But Demetrius seems to think he's the head of the entire family, therefore it's hard for Sebastian to receive support from the other two.
"Seb, you did the right thing. It's good that you're standing up for yourself, but Demetrius seems incredibly hard to convince of anything. You did your best, though. I attempted to talk to him as well."
Sebastian makes eye contact with me and gives me a slight grin. "Thank you, Sami. Thank you for being by my side, for listening to me and for believing in me when no one else did. You give me the strength to keep going."
Suddenly he grabs my arm and gently pulls me towards him and into his embrace. My eyes widen for a split second, but then I shut them and hold onto him tightly. He's always been there to comfort me too, and I want to do the same for him.
He pulls away after about a minute and holds onto my hand, then helps me get up. "Shall we go back to your place?", he asks and I pout. "But... we haven't finished eating.", I reply and he sighs "I truly do not want to go back in that god forsaken place. I'll buy you something else to eat at the Saloon. Okay?", I nod at him but then I remember I left my jacket in the dining room.
I quickly run inside without him. I notice Maru sitting alone in Demetrius' lab and decide to tell her goodbye before leaving. She seems to be very upset. I can't leave her like this. I grab a chair and sit down next to her. "Are you okay?", I ask and she shakes her head "I'm not one to talk much about my feelings but.. I'm scared Sebastian hates me. It's not my fault my dad tends to favor me a lot, but I feel like I could've done more to stand up for Sebastian.", she explains.
"Your dad was in the way of you actually becoming close with Seb. It would've been awkward for you to initiate conversation first after all these years of being forcefully separated from one another. This was completely out of your control, and Seb isn't mad at you. Trust me. He truly wishes he could be closer to you and also his mom again." I try to cheer her up. She looks at me. "So what do I do to help him?"
I ponder for a little while. "Demetrius puts a lot of faith in you. He listens to you and wants you to feel happy. I'm sure that if you try to reason with him and show him that you're impressed with the things that Seb is working on, he'll start warming up a bit.", I suggest and Maru quickly nods her head "For sure! You can count on me! Thank you for looking out for Sebastian. He truly has a soft spot for you.", she states before waving me goodbye and leaving into her room.
Sebastian has a soft spot for me?