It feels like it has only been minutes since time has passed us by, but judging by the night's sky and my aching eyes blinking open at the sound of a door slamming, I assumed hours had flown rather than minutes. I tugged my hands to roll around the drowsy peering on my eyelids, in hopes of waking me from a slumber I hadn't even thought I met as I turn to watch the ruckus, Sebastian was walking away from the house at a quick pace with his head hung low, his posture slouched and his mood unrecognized.
Sebastian sits his way in the car and closes the door. I eye his every move but he doesn't look at me or emit a word. He simply sticks the keys in the ignition and switches them on. I take out my phone to check the time.
8:45 -Reads on the clock and my suspicions of hours had been proved, It's rather obvious how things have gone while I was blacked out sleep. Sebastian doesn't say anything he solely pulls off from the house and drives into the windless evening. I take one look back at the house before settling my eyes on Sebastian and buckling my seatbelt. An almost unnoticed frown rests on his lips and his eyes, almost bloodshot red. His hair is a mess and his fingers grip tightly on the wheel.
"Sebastian-" Before I could make out my words Sebastian interrupts me quickly, "Are you hungry?" He asks looking at me, emptiness speaking volumes and I stare back at him giving no response.
Without hesitation, he looks away with silence roaming us again. Something was wrong, I couldn't exactly make out what that something was but I suspect things didn't go as we'd hoped. I could only guess, he didn't seem to be letting up and telling me what truly happened.
"Yeah let's get something to eat" I sat back in my seat and sipped on a bottle of water the rest of the way to our destination, staring out into the clear night skies but never forgetting to look over at Sebastian- wishing he'd snap back and talk to me.
A 24 hours diner.
From the car to the diners booth Sebastian still hasn't let out a single word, he's hardly looked my way but could easily make sure my form was before his to the entrance of the diner. The ring nearly sounded identical to my works cafe as many unfamiliar faces waltz into a place I'm fairly new to.
Sebastian tapped at his fingers while eyeing the menu as his body moved slightly from the rocking of his foot. "Sebastian" I call out to him and his head jolts up as if he'd been completely unaware of my presence.
"Are you okay?" I ask, wondering why he's currently so lost in thought, why his eyes appear so heavy.
"Yeah" he breathes flipping over the menu.
The sound of clicking heels and a slight hum move to our table as a lady stands before us, setting down two cups of water. "Hi, are you ready to order?" She asks looking between the both of us, "I'm not that hungry but you can eat" he pushes the menu over to me and breathes out again as he sends a forced smile to the woman, rushing his hand through his hair.
"Anything you would recommend, for him as well." I smile, mouthing the last part with a nod and she returns the gesture, grabbing the menu and leaving the table, for the next.
I stretch out my hand to the one he continued to fiddle with, stopping him midway. His body softens and he looks up at me with emotion feeling his expression. He slips his lip into his mouth and holds onto the water that threatened to slip his eyes embrace.
"It's okay" I nod my head, caressing his hand to keep him calm. Upon my response, a tear leaves the folds of his lids and drops down the side of his cheek before attaching its moisture to his shirt. He looks away from me, eyes burning into anything in sight as he avoids eye contact with me, while the remaining tears slip out of his eyes.
I feel my throat burn just at the sight of him, Sebastian crying is something new. His aurora had completely changed, from the fun, energetic being that he is to completely overcome with this heartbreaking emotion. I continue to rub at his hand praying for his tears to fade, a smile to resurface on his lovely lips while his eyes come to shine. Sebastian's bliss means the world to me and to see him holding onto the pain that's eating him, hurts my every being.
"He doesn't care Avery" Sebastian finally speaks up with a small crack and a low tone to his voice as he turns to face me. I reach my other hand to his and pull it into both my hands, holding it close, "Seb-"
He shakes his head biting at his lip and squeezing it onto both of my hands, "He said he never did anything wrong, that I've always overreacted and didn't appreciate the dedication he put out for me." he swallows, blinking to clear out his eyes. "He said the life I've built for me today and the path that I'm headed towards is all his commitment to making me a better man, that I should thank him."
"How could he not realize that my path today is not much to be proud of, I would have been far ahead if I didn't fall off the rails as an early teen if I wasn't pushed into agony and overworked for his benefit. Five years is enough to get your shit together, but those years without any form of closure doubles your pain and healing time." He wipes away the tears that clung to his face and rush his hand through his hair yet again.
Sebastian lifts his head to the ceiling and lets out a laugh while shaking his head softly, he smacks at his lips and turns back to face me. "He thought I came back to apologize for abandoning him."
"HIM- V, he swore I abandoned him. I was the child, I needed my father more than he needed me." I could hardly react to all that was being said, how things were opposite of what we'd expected and how his dad was as horrible as Sebastian had described him before.
"What's worst of all, he had his fiancé in there, adding in her two cents. If I didn't have the slightest bit of respect for him, I would have had you in there with me to help defend." I feel my heart smile at the mention of Sebastian wanting me to help back him up.
"The wife-to-be that suddenly replaced my mother after my mother recently discovered he'd been cheating for years and fell out of love with her ages ago." He adds and I raise my brow.
"Where's your mom now?" I question, not being able to prevent my curiosity.
"My Mother decided she wanted a change in life, so she moved across the country in hopes to find herself but I couldn't go with her as she hoped and she couldn't stay so this ring-" Sebastian reached to circle the ring on the hand I held while a smile grows to his lips. "-Was her parting gift, in her words to remind you that I will always love you and I will be back eventually but for now goodbye. We stay in contact and she often sends me images of how happy she is."
Sebastian meets my eyes with a slow rising smile on his lips and the pain slowly fading from his eyes, "At one point my mother was my everything, then the pain my father caused became my anything, and now that both have come to pass and I am healing away from my fathers hold-" He reaches to pull my hand back in his, holding it intently, "-I want you to be a part of my journey to discovering who I truly am without my mother or father, I want to continue falling in love with you without the fear of failure holding me back." He says with a smile, nodding his head.
My eyes widen and Sebastian stops, realizing what he had said as the terror fills his eyes, "forget what I just said" he laughs awkwardly shaking his head.
"Thank you for letting me vent Avery, I needed that, I feel like I can move the universe now" he smiles cheekily, hoping to steer away from his confession. As much as I'd love to drag out his words and overindulge in what he said, I feed into the new ones.
"I want nothing more than for you to feel comfortable with me," I say and he nods, picking up his glass of water and dropping a lemon in. I grin at the fact he does exactly what I do when faced with water and lemons. I repeat his actions and sip until I sigh relieving my thirst.
"You're a rather silent girl" Sebastian cocks his brow, catching my wondered attention.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means you don't talk much about yourself V, how come?" He questions, sitting upright, eyeing me.
"There's not much to talk about" I laugh shrugging my shoulders. "I wake up, work, eat sleep, and repeat."
He smiles shaking his head, leaning in a bit, "There's more to you than that, Avery"
"Just like you, I have yet to discover who I truly am. My childhood wasn't anything dramatic, but I was always the girl- safeguarded and pampered. So naturally, I wasn't as outgoing as my brother. I don't blame my parents but I wish things had been different. I wonder where I'd be now- if I would have a different outcome" I admit, propping my arms on the table while Sebastian watches my every move.
"So I assume you have a relatively good relationship with your parents?" He asks and I nod.
"Yeah, we are pretty close, once I showed them that I was no glass to be protected, they let up and allowed me to make my own decisions. Moving into college when I turned eighteen"
"That reminds me, I'm going to visit my parents sometime soon, hopefully- if you want to come" I breathe and he smiles nodding his head.
"Of course."
Not long after we continued to talk, our food had made its way to our table and Sebastian digs down into his meal as if he didn't deny his hunger previously. I laugh to myself and dig in as well, enjoying the simple yet savory flavors while continuing to chat with Sebastian as we discover more and more about each other, our smiles growing by the word and laughter increasing by the sentence.
I feel the rush in my heart from his outbursts of laughter, his eyes shiny and his face reddening. It was hypnotizing like he was the only person present in the light, canceling all the other people- sending them deep into the depths of the night. Over time Sebastian had confessed that deep down he hoped his father would have learned from his parenting and chose to start fresh and I hoped for the same.
"Ahh that was so good I feel stuffed" Sebastian moans, rubbing at his tummy while leaning back. I giggle dropping my fork and watching him stretch out.
"Are in you for dessert?" He questions sitting back straight with his brown eyes beaming.
"Aren't you stuffed?" I laugh, quoting with my fingers. His lips curve in a smirk and I feel my breath hitch as he tilts his head.
"I thought you knew you can never be too full if you haven't had dessert" I smile and nod at his words, slipping my lip into my mouth, "What are you thinking?"
He raises his fingers to his head as if he's thinking up a dessert, "Let's play rock paper scissors on who chooses the dessert and we'll share" he jokes and I chuckle shaking my head, "deal"
We get our table cleaned as I order our dessert, which I won for the three games we played. Sebastian couldn't accept his defeat and I couldn't stop my admiration at watching him groan and focus every time and time again. I almost gave in to tell him to stop picking paper every time we started again but a molten lava cake was calling my name. I grin in victory as we awaited our food.
I hear the familiar ring the bell entrance and my eyes wander to the tall slim girl who walks inside, her skin bright and clear while her short dark hair sits at her shoulders. She makes her way straight to the counter, speaking to the man at the register, and stands there waiting as he walks to the back.
She glides a hand through her hair as she looks around the place, turning to eye the decor before her eyes fall at our table, instantly making her way to our table- smiling ear to ear once she notices Sebastian. I turn to him with my brows lifted, he quickly notices my odd expression and turns to face my previous sight. His eyes widen and a smile reaches his lips as he stands to greet the girl.
"Celeste" he speaks pulling her into a respectful hug. Of course, she's a stunning girl with a pretty name. He pulls away not a second later and turns to me.
"This is Avery, my-"
"Friend." I jump to my feet and stick out my hand.
"I'm his friend and you are?" I smile as she shakes my hand with a delicate grin.
"He's my mate, we've shared multiple classes until I got transferred to another campus," She says and Sebastian looks at me with furrowed brows.
"Yeah, we haven't seen each other in at least three months." He says turning back to her, "let's catch up some time"
I stand back awkwardly awaiting this conversation to be over with, "I planned to hang with Caleb and the others sometime next week, tag along?" She raises her brows and he nods with a smile as she turns on her heels, "We'll be there" he shouts to her as she waves out the door after grabbing her takeout.
We sit back in our seats and I pull my drink to my lips, taking a sip. "We?" I question, eyes low.
He pushes his brows together and eyes me, "won't you come? I feel like you should be there"
"Mm," I nod, drinking more of my water.
"So I'm a friend now?" He questioned, sneering mischievously.
"Weren't you always?" I lift my brow and he pulls his hand to his chest as if he was a pain.
"Why do you always feel the need to hit me where it hurts baby" he groans. I laugh at his childishness before Sebastian leans over the table and pulls me to look into his eyes.
"So you would kiss a friend?" He whispers, staring deep into me with a sly smirk and needy eyes. My eyes travel from his to his lips and back to his eyes, I breathe in softly as his eyes travel down to my lips without hesitation while he licks at his. I can't help but to feel lost for words at how quickly the conversation escalated.
"Answer me" he breathes leaning in closer. Luckily the diner was almost dead now as there were little to no customers and the workers were off in the back. I wanted nothing more than to pull Sebastian over the table and drown my mouth in his but fighting the urge was all I could manage.
"I wouldn't" I answer, feeling my walls clench and my vagina moisten.
"Kiss me Avery" Sebastian whispers leaning in closer as I stay glued in my spot as always. "What if people are watching Sebastian"
"Don't act like you don't get off on an audience" Sebastian chuckles, referencing our little beach time. "Just lay a quick kiss here" he begs, pointing to his plumped lips.
"One lava cake, enough for two servings" A women's voice catches me off guard causing me to jump in my seat as Sebastian sits back with a remaining smirk, watching his effect that lingers.
"Thank you, ma'am," he smiles at her as she sets it in between us. "Of course, darling, Just shout Darla if you needed anything else." she smiles with a nod and retreats to the kitchen.
I cling my legs close as Sebastian takes the first bite, not taking his eye off my helpless state.