We sat there for a few seconds but it felt like hours.
And then there was that annoying flash of light again. I turned around but Sebastian pulled me back just in time.
"Put your hair in front of your face and follow me. Quickly."
I did as he said and followed his retreating back, noticing that he threw a few twenty dollar bills on the table as we escaped.
Paparazzi. I knew they were a possibility but I didn't realize they could literally find us wherever they went. They were resourceful, I'd give them that.
We'd just exited the diner as the flood of people and cameras came careening towards us and I did as he said and put my hair in front of my face, shielding myself from the harsh glare of the cameras.
They were shouting all kinds of obscene things at us.
"Are you cheating on Ali with her?"
"Have you had sex yet?"
"How old is she?"
"What's her name?"
I blocked out their words and focused on the car coming closer and closer to my view. The door was unlocked as I opened it and slipped inside, quickly locking it behind me and I put my hands over my face once I was safely inside.
"They're going to follow us wherever we go now. I have to take you back to my house, then I'll have Jason take you home or to school out of the back entrance of my driveway. They won't be able to follow then."
I just nodded, hating how both of our moods had gone from sunny and bright to cold and hard in just a few mere moments.
I shook the pain from my head we continued the ride in a long silence, and once we were back at his home I could finally breathe easily again.
He stormed out of the car and into the house as soon as we arrived and I looked to see Jason standing by the front door awaiting orders from his 'boss'.
They looked to be in a heated argument so I just stayed by the car, not wanting to get in the middle of it, whatever it was.
Finally, Jason looked to me and nodded, hooking a thumb over his shoulder motioning for me to follow him to the SUV awaiting in the driveway.
As I slid into the awaiting car, I looked at Sebastian's retreating figure. He'd done this not once, but twice to me and I was starting to think that he wasn't worth it.
"Where to Miss?" Jason asked me from the front seat and I had to fight the urge to run back inside to tell Sebastian off.
I couldn't fight it anymore though, so that's exactly what I did.
I opened the door quickly and tore out of the car and raced up the stairs to Sebastian's mansion which I quickly realized was kind of a bad idea due to how out of shape I was and I would have to confront him out of breath and sweaty but it didn't matter.
I had to find out what his problem was.
He was hot one second then cold the next. It made my head spin with how his mood changed so quickly and without any notice whatsoever.
"Sebastian!" I yelled out, and it didn't take but five seconds for his to appear at the top of the stairs looking down into the foyer where I was standing.
"Hey man, I tried to stop her, I really did! She's just really fast and-"
"It's fine man, just go wait in the car. This'll only take a second."
I narrowed my glare at him. Of course he would say that.
Jason did as he was told and then it was just us two. It was then that I realized he was probably in the middle of changing or getting in the shower because he was shirtless.
Of course, as if my brain wasn't muddled enough.
I took a deep breath.
"What is your problem?" I asked him, my glare sharpening as he cocked an eyebrow at me and began descending the stairs. As if I needed him any closer to me with those piercing green eyes and gorgeous, delectable shirtless body, his skin so tan and every ab defined beautifully carved from hours of hard, sweaty work and-
"Well?" he asked me and I realized that I had been staring, not paying attention to what was going on. Oh, that and he was directly in front of me then.
His eyes didn't hold the humor and happiness that they normally did when we were together. They were cold and harsh, his cocky smile not holding the joy that I had seen before.
He was distant and cold, and it brought the ache back. This wasn't the Sebastian that made me forget about my pain, this could be the Sebastian that could break me. And I got the feeling that was what he was about to do.
"I asked what your problem was. You say one thing and then your actions say another. You're hot and cold, hitting on me one second and then the next I find out you have a girlfriend and as soon as I bring it up you shut me out and get angry at me for no reason. You say you want to be my friend and get to know me better but any time I try to do the same you act like I'm your worst enemy. You can't have it both ways, Sebastian!"
He had a blank look on his face, barely meeting my eyes at all.
Then he came closer, his body surrounding me and I could barely breathe.
All I could feel was electricity and my throbbing heart, the heat from his body and an ache in my chest.
"Why do you care? You don't tell me the truth so why should I?
I faltered at that.
"I know you didn't get in a 'girl fight'. It's easy to tell when someone's lying, Red. And I know your tells."
His voice was gruff and sharp, causing the electricity to zoom through my body and land in the pit of my stomach, making me feel stirrings of desire that I only ever had felt with Sebastian.
I cursed my traitorous body, not wanting to feel this uncontrollable lust for him when he was being so unemotional and uncaring. It was like he didn't even care, a mask of nothingness etched onto his beautiful face.
A shock of black hair fell into his eyes and he swatted it away angrily, as if it was his hair's fault at the argument we were having.
I gathered up some courage deep within myself to tell him what I was going to say, it wasn't going to be easy but it had to be done.
"What do you want me to say? That I went out with a complete and utter asshole and stayed with him because I was pathetic and couldn't stand up for myself? That I don't have any friends strong enough to stand up to him or new his girlfriend when they came after me because I can't do it myself? Do you want to hear about my daddy issues? Maybe you want to know that I'm supposedly a 'tease' and that's the reason no one will date me at school, because I won't put out. Is that honest enough for you?!"
I was huffing by the time I was finished, each word coming out of my mouth harsh like a biting snake spitting out venom with each syllable.
His eyes widened in surprise. I hadn't exactly told him the whole truth but I'd told him enough. But did it matter? I wanted the Sebastian that was carefree and happy, he was the one who made the ache in my chest disappear, not the angry, anxiety inducing Sebastian that was staring down at me in that moment.
I saw a flicker of emotion and pain across his face at my words, but as soon as it appeared, it was gone again. I didn't understand what he was doing, and why he was doing it.
"No. It's not."
"Oh really? Then what do you want to know that will be 'honest' enough for you?"
"Tell me you hate me. That you never want to see me again."
I was not expecting that.
"What?"
"You heard me. Say it."
I knew I couldn't say it. He knew I'd be lying because it wasn't the truth. We both knew that. He was just trying to push me away.
"One minute you're telling me that you want to get to know me better and want to be my friend, the next you're telling me to lie to you. Again I ask, what is your problem?"
I stepped closer to him, poking a finger in his chest not caring about the consequences.
He gripped my hand in his, the pain from his hands squeezing mine was nothing compared to the constricting feeling in my chest.
"You. You're my problem. Just go, Holly. I don't want to see you again."
I felt the tears prick my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. Not in his presence, at least.
"Fine. But when you snap out of this psycho mood you're in and feel the need to call or text me, or show up at my house in your car again...don't."
And with that I stormed away from him, the tumultuous emotions displayed in his eyes seared into my mind forever.
I would have nightmares about the look on his face for years to come.