Valerie had never felt so much at home with Sebastian.
It had been a week since the accident.
On Wednesday morning, they were having breakfast and pillow fights for nearly two hours when Sebastian had to leave for his classes. Only then did, Valerie allow her thoughts to process.
Dahlia and Audrey had again spent the night with her and Sebastian was on duty during the day.
She felt bad for them. She did not want to give them extra pressure even after their studies.
She focused on her novel again some time later, which she had been reading.
Much to her relief, just then Julian called up to check on her.
"Val, are you okay?" Came his frantic voice.
"No I'm not, I miss being on the field already." She said told him.
"Don't rush, you'll soon be there again." He said and added, " Don't try to do anything stupid, give the wound some time to heal" he said warningly.
"Noted!"
"Okay, I'll call you later, I'm sort of busy, bye!"
"Bye." Then he hung up.
It was nearly seven in the evening. The sky looked beautiful and she wished to get out of the house.
Someone opened the door. Seb.
"Hey, you feel okay?" Sebastian asked heading towards her.
"I do not! I wanna get out, I'm tired of staying indoors all day!" She replied with frustration.
"I can't help, sorry!"
"What do you mean you can't? It's your fault" She said turning her face away.
Sebastian suddenly fell dead silent. The words stung.
"I'm sorry Val, I truly am." He locked hands with her.
Valerie seemed to have realised her mistake for she faced him and said," Don't worry about that, I'll be fine, just..I want to get some fresh air.
"If you really wish to get out so bad, I can help you. But only for a short time." Sebastian suggested.
"Really? Thank you so much! Where are we going?" Valerie was suddenly excited.
"You will see." He smirked at her.
☆♤◇♡◇♧☆
After a lot of hustle, Sebastian was successful in getting Valerie inside the car.
He got in the drivers seat and started the vehicle.
Valerie was staring outside the window the whole time they took to reach Headington Hill.
The excitement on her face was worth seeing.
Soon, they reached the place, it was beautiful as always. The trees seemed to welcomed them with a cool breeze and Valerie suddenly looked like she was going to jump out of the vehicle any second.
"Do not get out before me." Sebastian warned her, then got out himself and helped her balance.
As soon as they sat down at a comfortable place, Valerie took off her shoes and lied down on the grass. Sebastian laughed slightly at this gesture.
"What?" She asked, herself laughing.
"You are just so silly."
"Nobody but you think that." She said getting up again. Her hair loosely bound in a ponytail had now leaves all over them.
He ignored her words and ruffled her hair in an attempt to brush off the leaves.
Her cheeks flushed. "You know you don't have to treat me like a kid everytime."
He raised an eyebrow, "I thought that was obvious."
"What?"
"You being a kid, I thought it was really obvious." Now Sebastian received a slap on his arm.
Sebastian chuckled and hugged the small of her back
She looked up at his eyes, then rested her head on shoulder.
Without giving it a second thought, Sebastian began stroking her hair. She sighed and closed her eyes breathing in the fresh air.
"Thank you" She said quietly.
"Your welcome Val"
Sebastian's eyes suddenly landed on her left foot, covered by the elastic bandage. He felt the area with his fingers a bit. It was still swelled up. Valerie winced.
She gave him a questioning glance and asked, "What are doing?"
"Does it hurt?" He asked, a deep concern in his voice.
"Not at all"
"I wish you were a better liar" he replied keeping his gaze on her feet.
She fell silent.
Sebastian felt a strange kind of guilt pang at his chest.
"You know, I wish to return to those fields soon, I hate being away from it" She suddenly spoke up, breaking the painful silence.
Sebastian noticed a tear escape from her eyes. She sniffled and wiped it away with her sleeve. He drew her closer to his chest and hugged her softly. He could hear her heartbeat spiking.
But in this moment, all he wanted was to hold her in his embrace, cherishing every moment.
"I'm really grateful for your kindness, Seb. I am well aware that we might not have the best compatibility, but still I owe you so much."
"Let's just focus on the present okay? And you don't owe me anything, so don't fret." Sebastian gave her a reassuring smile.
After, some relaxing silence, he said, "Can you do me a favour? I have no idea where this is coming from, but I would love to have you during thanksgiving this month, could you do that?" Sebastian hadn't exactly planned this, but it just came out of his mouth.
She smiled and said, "I would love to."
Oh man, why does her smile affect him so much?
☆♤◇♡◇♧☆
It was twentieth November.
Valerie had healed pretty much, but she was still under close supervision of her riding instructor, so she was just allowed to do the basic exercises when at the club.
Julian had returned from his tour and had also resumed his practice.
They had grown pretty close during their time together for the past few days. Although Valerie had still not given him the answer he hoped for, he did not press on her.
The day seemed really cheerful. It was 6:30 pm and they were packing up their stuff to return to their dorm after practice.
Valerie was walking around the ground chatting with Julian, when Sebastian came up on his horse.
"Want a ride?"
Julian's face fell, she noticed it. But she wanted to get on the horse anyway so she agreed.
"But on one condition, you will sit behind me." Sebastian agreed.
She bid adieu to Julian and gave him an apologetic look.
"We will talk later, okay? You do not mind, do you?"
"Not at all, I'll see you later then Val. Take care!" He gave her a swift kiss on the cheek and walked off.
Sebastian looked down at her, "You ready?"
"I'm more than ready!" She squealed and got on the horse, Sebastian followed.
Valerie knew she might not have done a great job towards Julian, but she had really wished for something like this, which he did not often offer. But Sebastian did. And she loved every bit of it. So yeah, she did feel like it was worth it.
As they went round the field, a cool breeze blew at her face and she closed her eyes.
Oh god, how she had longed for this feeling.
A/N
Hello!
Thank you so much for 100 reads! I apologise for the short chapter. But there's a lot more coming.
I hope you will like this part, even though its pretty short.
Don't forget to vote!
Good night!