Eight months later
"See, I told her, I wouldn't knock you up."
That was the blunt statement that passed through Sebastian's lips as he continued to drive his car down the freeway. And yes, he was finally driving a car of his actual own - a Mercedes specifically. After a lot of threatening, sexual bribery and eyelash flutters from me, I finally managed to convince him to bury his pride and let me buy him a car.
He was being so stupidly stubborn about it but like usual, I won in the end. It seemed to be a pattern in our relationship. Him saying no to something sensible, me 'accidentally' losing some clothes, then him saying yes.
Taking my attention briefly from staring out the window, I turned to him with a plucked-up brow and saw he was sporting a loose boastful smile. We were on the way home from college, and Sebastian had spent the past ten minutes bragging about how awesome he was for proving his mum wrong yet again, by not knocking me up.
In case it wasn't obvious, eight months of dating him had not even mildly changed him and Sebastian was still as Sebastian-like as ever.
With an amused smile, I took him in from head to toe and found myself getting mildly distracted by this small action. Sometimes I forgot how good he looked – with those stunning brown eyes and his overgrown black hair that spilled out across his forehead.
Remembering our conversation, I smiled. "You know, that's really not the bragging point you think it is," I laughed.
Sebastian scoffed. "I beg to differ. Now that Lara's pregnant, I think it's the perfect bragging point."
That was the other thing. Around eight months ago my brother had accidentally gotten Sebastian's sister pregnant. Yes, the same brother who had given me a fifteen-minute graphic safe sex talk and had bucketloads of condoms in his car. It turned out he needed the talk more than anyone. And now as a result of that, we were driving to my house so we could celebrate Max and Lara's baby shower slash engagement party.
"I still can't believe they're actually going to have a baby," I murmured to myself.
"Well, I can," Sebastian laughed. "Those two go at each other like animals! They might even be worse than Leon and Ava and that's saying a lot!"
Sebastian was right, that was indeed saying a lot. Since Sebastian shared a dorm room with Leon, and I shared one with Ava; it was pretty common for Sebastian to switch rooms with Ava for the night. And well... when it was time for Sebastian to return to his room in the morning, let's just say Leon and Ava weren't the best at anticipating when someone was coming.
Glancing down at my watch, I let out a frustrated sigh when I saw it was already a little after twelve.
"Great, we're going to be late now, because of what you did this morning?"
Sebastian's lips twitched into an amused smile, like the unsympathetic bastard he was, clearly not even feeling mildly embarrassed or regretful. The dickhead was genuinely proud of himself.
His eyes were practically shining now with joy as he likely thought back to this morning.
What happened this morning, you may ask? Well, I'd invited Sebastian over for breakfast in my block, and when I was in the middle of my shower, Sebastian in typical Sebastian style decided to let himself in.
And in case you were wondering, the door was locked; the pervert just turned the flat screw on the other side of the lock like he'd done before.
When I saw him, I assumed he was just going to steal my clothes again like an idiot, but he didn't. Instead, he sat on the edge of the bathtub and proceeded to shamelessly watch me shower while eating his toast and sipping on some orange juice. Just full-on watched with a neutral face, like I was his entertainment.
"Don't pretend you weren't into it," Sebastian loosely laughed while keeping his eyes on the road.
"And besides nobody told you to let me in when I was done eating. I just came for a live show, you're the one who turned it into something else," he teased.
I abruptly shut my mouth, hating that he had a point. "Did not," I spat childishly.
"Did too," he laughed.
"Did not!"
"Did too!"
"Did not!"
"Okay, fine, I might have had some small part too," Sebastian relented with a smile.
I rolled my eyes at him and said nothing. Boyfriend or not – Sebastian Diaz would and always would remain an idiot.
Quicker than I thought, Sebastian was soon pulling into the street of my house, and in through my driveway. Big balloons decorated the exterior of the house, and a banner reading 'Congratulations Max and Lara' stretched across the roof edge.
I could already hear pop music from the backyard and the light sound of laughter and children playing. "Here we are," Sebastian announced as he came to a neat stop right at the edge of our drive.
As I reached for the car door, I heard a click, and furrowing my brows I realized Sebastian had locked my side of the door.
I turned to him and looked him up and down with a confused smile. "Erm...do you mind? Why-"
Sebastian suddenly leaned over the centre console and grabbed a hold of my face before kissing me. It made my mind dizzy until he pulled away.
Still holding my face, he leaned back and scanned over my face with a smile. "Sorry, I had to, you've kind of given me a thing now for cars," he chuckled.
I paused in confusion before realizing he was talking about our first time together in my brother's car on the beach, and that instantly my face was burning at the memory.
"Oh, shut up," I mumbled with a loose smile, as I pulled away further my face burning even hotter.
Sebastian just chuckled, finding far too much amusement from teasing me.
Finally, popping open the car door, I climbed out alongside Sebastian and the two of us soon made our way round to the backyard with our shared present tucked under my arm.
We followed the sound of the music, and soon our freshly cut green yard came into view. There were a bunch of circular tables set up near the house with fancy white tablecloths with big pink flowers, and confetti lining the tables.
I spotted a few of my relatives on some nearby tables and they smiled and waved at me as I passed.
Finally, I spotted the table at the front where I could see Sebastian's parents and mine chatting to one another while little Izzy coloured in some sort of paper on the table.
Grabbing a hold of Sebastian's hand, I towed him over to their table.
Izzy's head snapped up as we approached closer, and her eyes widened in cute excitement. "Sebby, Fi-fi," she yelled out.
I smiled as she jumped out of her seat grabbed hold of Sebastian's legs and hugged them. "I missed you so so much," she mumbled.
Sebastian laughed and gently rubbed the back of her head. "I missed you too, Izzy," he said as he smiled down at her fondly. Sebastian went home monthly and video-called back home a fair few times a week so it hadn't exactly been years since she'd last seen him but the reaction was cute nonetheless.
I could see our parents watching on fondly from the table, and muttering on about how cute Izzy was.
Izzy soon pulled away and looked up at her brother. "I'm going to be an aunty to a little girl, Sebby!" she yelled in excitement. I bit back a laugh at this, finding it amusing that this almost five-year-old was going to be a first-time aunt at the same time I was.
"Is that so?" Sebastian said, smiling back at her.
"Uh-huh," Izzy said, nodding eagerly. "And Sebastian?" Izzy sang in song.
"Yes, Izzy," Sebastian nodded, indicating for her to continue.
Izzy cleared her throat. "Now, that Phoebe's your wife-"
"Girlfriend," Sebastian corrected with a smile. "But one day my wife." My heart did some major flutters after he said that, and I turned his way sharply.
Sebastian's lips tugged higher, clearly noticing my reaction from the corner of his eye.
"Yes, now Phoebe's your girlfriend," Izzy corrected herself. "Can't you finally put a baby in her?" she asked boldly. Sebastian and I both went still, not at all keen on the idea of having a baby in the first year of college.
Sebastian let out a nervous laugh. "Well, you see-"
"Izzy, I think it's about time you came back to finish your cake," her mother called back. From the timing of her interruption, it was pretty obvious she'd overheard, and was eager to cut off the conversation.
As Izzy nodded and jogged away, I let out a sigh of relief.
"Sebastian," his mum called out again. "Make sure to say hi to your sister and Max, they were looking for you earlier. They're in the kitchen, I believe."
"Yeah, will do," Sebastian called back.
On that word, Sebastian and I soon trailed our way through the porch doors to my home and into our open space kitchen.
Max and Lara were both sat talking and laughing beside each other high up on the kitchen islands.
The first thing my eyes drew to was Lara's belly. She looked twice as big as she did when I saw her last month, to the point where it looked almost ridiculous.
I could see Max kept subconsciously dropping his eyes down to stare at her belly every now and then as they talked which I couldn't help but smile at. He was going to be a great dad.
"Hey losers," Sebastian called out in greeting as he hopped himself up on a chair across from them.
Impolite as always, Sebastian then reached across the table and plucked a baby carrot from his sister's plate. "Hey!" Lara yelled.
I shook my head at his behavior. "I'm so sorry, Lara, he's an idiot," I muttered with a sigh as I hopped up on the kitchen chair beside him.
"Yeah, I know, I've lived with him long enough to know what he is," Lara laughed in agreement. Unpleased by her statement, Sebastian frowned as he continued to chew on his carrot.
Suddenly Max cleared his throat and looked between Sebastian and me with a smile. "I'm sorry but I still can't believe that you guys are actually a couple. You guys seemed close to killing each other over a year ago," he snickered.
"Yeah, true," I chuckled, realizing he had a point. If a year ago me, could see me now, she'd be in for a shock. At that time, I could barely stomach touching Sebastian, never mind doing all the stuff I did and let him do to me now.
"Very true," Lara nodded, her eyes seeming to shine weirdly as she spoke. "How'd you guys even learn to get along in the end? It seems like you guys got so chummy with each other out of nowhere?"
Sebastian let out a loose snicker. "Oh, we weren't actually chummy. We were just scheming together to get you guys to-"
Sebastian abruptly cut himself off, once he realized what he was about to confess. My heart stopped beating.
I'd almost completely forgotten about Sebastian and I's 'Break up Pact.' We hadn't spoken about it for ages as it wasn't exactly something we were proud of. And it was especially awkward now that the people we were trying to break up were engaged with a baby on the way.
"Scheming to what?" My brother probed with a smile.
"Nothing," Sebastian uttered sharply, seeming very preoccupied with staring off at the window.
"Scheming to break us up, perhaps?" Lara suggested.
Sebastian and I both turned to look her way, with widened eyes. At that moment Lara, and Max both started laughing; their shoulders shaking roughly.
"You knew?" I whispered slowly, feeling the definition of confused now. "Yup," Max snorted. "We knew like instantly.
Lara nodded along in agreement. "Yeah, it wasn't even hard to figure out. Like putting Phoebe's panties in Max's bed, really? And Sebastian speaking to me in length about why I didn't need a boyfriend," she snorted. "It was so fucking obvious."
I blinked slowly, and Sebastian similarly just stared on at the two of them in still shock. Here we were thinking we were going to have to take this secret to the grave, and they'd somehow known it all along.
"And.... you're not mad?" Sebastian asked slowly.
"Well, we were a little but we weren't that mad because we were scheming as well," Lara shrugged with a smile.
Sebastian's eyes narrowed. "Scheming what?"
"To get you guys together, of course," she answered with a smile. Not even having words to describe how confused I was, I continued to blink at her slowly.
Sebastian equally as confused, shook his head over in confusion; his eyes narrowing. "But...but how? What did you guys possibly do to get us together?"
"Well, I already knew Sebastian pathetically liked you that much was obvious, so we just tried to find ways to push you guys together. Like you know the first time we had dinner together, I made sure Sebastian came because I already knew you guys had unresolved issues –"
"But...you and Max barely even recognized Sebastian and I at first?" I argued, feeling beyond confused.
"It's called acting," Max answered with a chuckle. "You guys used to hang out like every day when you were little, Of course, we know what the other one's sibling looked like," he snorted.
I was once again brought to silence.
Lara cleared her throat to continue speaking. "And after our first dinner together, we tricked you into hanging out in Phoebe's room. Then when we went on holiday, I tricked Sebastian into thinking he wanted to come-"
"What the fuck...," Sebastian whispered.
Lara laughed before continuing. "Then I made sure to over-pack so there'd be barely any seats in the back so you guys were forced to share a seat-"
"What!" I snapped.
Ignoring me Lara continued. "And at the country club hotel, there were more rooms left, we just forced you guys to share a room so you'd bond. And then we purposefully spent the whole holiday doing private stuff together, so you guys would be forced the hang out," she laughed. "Was there anything else I'm forgetting, Max?" she asked, as she turned my brother's way.
"Oh, don't forget the time we tricked them into going on a date together," he laughed.
"What do you mean?" I murmured in confusion.
Lara smiled. "Well, when Sebastian kept asking me where I was going on my date, I knew he was trying to ruin it so instead of telling him the right location, I told him we were going to the arcade. And then boom, just like that we tricked you guys into going on a date. It was surprisingly easy, really. Then, after that, you guys pretty much just hung out with each other naturally without intervention. Well besides the time, you were pushing my brother away for no reason, Phoebe. That's where I gave him some ideas on how to make you jealous then I helped him plan a win-you-over date which was clearly more than successful. But yeah, on the whole, it was pretty simple, really."
Silenced filled the kitchen as Sebastian and I sat in silence, processing all this information we'd just received. "I think..." Sebastian started. "I think we might actually be stupid, Phoebe...," he murmured slowly.
I nodded my head robotically in agreement, unable to deny it. Sebastian was absolutely right – we were dumb as fuck.
"Aww, Seb if it's any recollection I always thought you were stupid," Lara cooed with a pout. Sebastian gave his sister a flat look.
"But anyway, you're welcome for getting you together with your life-long crush. I like thanks in money, and good baby presents," she winked. Then lurching her chair back with a smile, she rose to her feet as best as she could with her ginormous belly.
"Now, if you'll excuse us, we've got to say hi to more of our guests, see you guys later." Max joined her by her side and put a guiding hand on her back as he helped walk her out through the patio doors.
Once the two of them left, Sebastian and I sat there in continued silence. I couldn't believe it – we had been completely and utterly outsmarted by our elder siblings. While we were doing a breakup pact those motherfuckers were doing a set them up pact. I wasn't sure whether to be pissed or thankful.
After some time, I remembered something and turned to him with a smile on his lips. "So, I'm going to be your wife, am I?" I asked as I looked him up and down.
"What?" he asked with a smile.
"You told Izzy, I'd be your wife one day. What makes you so sure I'll say, yes to a marriage proposal, huh"? I teased.
"Because I'm hot, persuasive and I'll do this." With that word, Sebastian grabbed a hold of my neck and brought me into a kiss. Laughing into the kiss, I pulled him closer.
As perverted and rude as Sebastian may be, I couldn't be more glad for agreeing to that stupid pact.
The end.
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I really hope you enjoyed the story. It was definitely one of my favourites to write.
What was your favourite scene from the book?
Anyway, if you want to keep up with me I'll probably be slowly continuing to finish off Ethan's POV.
Thanks so much for reading xx