Letitia was silent. She could see the emptiness, the fear, the guilt in Sebastian's dull grey eyes as he sat next to her on her bed, never uttering a word. His movements were small and weak, skin pale, sickly. The fear in his eyes was prominent, easy to see. He was staring blankly at the wall, tears pooling down his cheeks. Letitia was frightened.
"Sebastian?" Letitia whispers, interlocking their fingers.
Sebastian says nothing once more and only blinked. He didn't even turn his head to face her. "I— I have no idea what's happened to you... but I swear I won't pressure you into talking about it.. but... please say something.. anything... your.. your scaring me.."
Letitia was almost in tears at the others behaviour. Eyes red and threatening. She wasn't lying. She was fucking terrified. The moment they had stepped foot in Letitia's room, he threw up all over the floor and weeped for over an hour. But he still wouldn't utter a single word. Not even just a small, Letitia or hold me.
He was mute.
Letitia squeezes his hand gently, pressing a kiss to his knuckles, and Sebastian finally, finally, looks over at her. "Do you need anything?" Letitia asks. "Water? Some food? Another blanket? Panadol? Just.. whatever.. I'll get it for you." She wanted Sebastian to be comfortable around her, to know that he could trust her. To speak to her, God she just wanted to hear Sebastian's voice.
Sebastian barely shook his head.
Letitia felt her heart drop into the pit of her stomach. All she wanted was for Sebastian to speak to her. "Do you want—... do you want to ..um.. talk about what happened?"
Sebastian shakes his head.
"Do you want to talk at.. at all?"
Another shake.
Letitia sighs. She's given up. If Sebastian doesn't want to talk, she can't force him to talk. She lets go of the boys hand, covering her eyes with her hands as she starts to cry. God. Why.. why did she feel so fucking useless?
Sebastian's eyes widened at the soft sounds of sniffles and choked sobs, gazing over at Letitia who's body was shaking at the impact. Worried, Sebastian removes himself from the girls bed and wobbles over to Letitia's side. Letitia raises her head at the feeling of a shaking hand touching her shoulder and gulps down a sob at seeing Sebastian by her side.
Sebastian places himself on Letitia's lap, as he normally does when they are together, cupping her cheek and wiping tears away with gentle shaking thumbs. Letitia instantly wraps her arms around Sebastian's tiny waist, sobbing into his chest. She was relentless, shaking almost as intensely as Sebastian. "I— I just want to... to hear your... your voice.." Letitia whimpers, "to—to know h-how your f-feel—feeling.."
You don't want to know how I'm feeling. Sebastian thinks, holding on tightly to his sobbing friend.
Sebastian didn't want to say a word, fearing the utter worst. He was scared, terrified. He didn't want anyone to know what had happened, what his father had done to him. He didn't want any of it. He was so fucking scared.
"I— I can't.." he whispers, tears once again spilling down his cheeks. Letitia looks up at him, and how Sebastian wished she hadn't. Pain glistened in her tearful and red eyes. Sebastian's heart dropped.
"Why— why can't you?" Letitia whimpers, begs. She just wanted to be able to help.
"I- I just.. can't."
"Please Seb... I- I'm here for you.. please-"
It seemed like hours before Sebastian finally was able to speak, find the right words to express his feelings in the littlest detail. "He did something to me.." he whimpers.
Letitia's eyes widened and she cupped Sebastian's cheeks. "Who..? Who did something to you.."
"Something bad.. horrible.."
"He..- he raped me.." Sebastian whispers, hiding his face in the crook of Letitia's neck.
Letitia fell silent. She couldn't bring herself to speak. Someone had touched Sebastian... done things to him that he didn't want.. she was furious. All she could do was hold the sobbing boy.
Sebastian was latched onto her, nails digging into her back harshly, but Letitia let him. Her shirt was soaked to the brim in tears, but Letitia didn't care. She didn't care that Sebastian didn't tell her who did this. She didn't care. All she cared was that Sebastian trusted her enough to finally tell someone what had happened.
Letitia rose, easily lifting Sebastian into her arms and carrying him over to her bed. She laid him down as gently as she could and took the space beside him, wrapping her arms around him. Sebastian clung to her, sobbing, howling. His body was shaking.
They laid in an intense silence, not uttering a word.
One question floated around Letitia's mind. How long has he had to keep this to himself?
****
Ever since their talk, Letitia hadn't left his side. She wouldn't let him be alone, wouldn't allow Joel anywhere near him. She didn't want him to hurt himself. Sebastian understood this, though, he wasn't used to all of the attention. Wasn't used to such protection from someone he had meet barely weeks ago.
Letitia had promised to not tell anyone. Not Chris, not Emily. Nobody could know. She respected that and made sure to reassure Sebastian that if the time came when he was okay with telling either of them, that they wouldn't judge him.
The two were at work, Sebastian insisting on needing the distraction and was manning the register. Letitia was in the back, helping clean dishes and talking with Sebastian whenever there was a chance to.
The bell above the diners door rung and Chris and a little girl walked in. He smiles at Sebastian, sending an onslaught of butterflies to erupt inside of Sebastian's stomach. "Hey, Seb." Chris greets.
Sebastian gulps. "H-hey."
"Ellie, this is Seb. Seb, this is my little sister, Ellie."
Ellie grins up at Sebastian and waves. "Hi!" She shouts, bouncing on her toes. "You are very pretty."
Sebastian blushes and smiles softly. "Thanks, hun." He says, slightly embarrassed at the sudden compliment. He forgot how straightforward kids could be.
Chris chuckles. "How are you?"
Sebastian shrugs. "I'm alright, slightly better than usual." Sebastian responds. "How are you?"
"That's great. I'm pretty good."
"Enough small talk!" Someone shouts, causing Sebastian to roll his eyes playfully. Letitia comes up behind him and wraps an arm around his shoulders. "What can kitten get for you?"
Sebastian blushes viciously and jabs Letitia in the side. Chris smirks and Sebastian avoids eye contact. "Kitten?" He asks.
Letitia smirks with him. "Well yeah, he's cute like a little kitten and yawns like one too. A little squeak at the end."
"Oh yeah."
"Guys," Sebastian grumbles, hiding his face behind his hands. "Stop."
The two laugh. "Sorry, kitten." Letitia grins, rubbing his back. "We're just having fun."
"Embarrassing your best friend is fun?" Sebastian asks.
Letitia nods. "But of course."
Chris laughs, Ellie giggling beside him. She tugs on his hand and Chris bends down, ear to her lips. "I like them." She whispers, grinning. "Sebby is cute."
Chris can't help but chuckle. Ellie, though she was young, had always been straightforward and never afraid to call someone she thought was cute, cute or express that she liked them. "He is, isn't he?" Chris whispers back, Ellie nodding.
"Anyway," Sebastian cuts through the banter, giving Letitia a look and causing her to throw her hands up in surrender. "What would you guys like?"
Chris chuckles. "Two pieces of apple pie please."
Sebastian smiles softly and adds up the cost. "That's eight fifty, thanks."
Chris hands over the money and takes Ellie over to one of the booths. Letitia smirks evilly and ruffles Sebastian's hair. "He was so checking you out, kitten!"
Sebastian groans and pushes her away playfully. "Oh shut up and go give this order to Greg."
Letitia giggles and snatches the piece of paper, skipping away with a grin of triumph on her lips. Sebastian sighs and pinches his barely bruised nose. "Lord, save me."
"Chris?" Ellie asks, catching her brother's attention away from Sebastian.
"Hmm?" Chris hums, chin resting in the palm of his hand.
"Do you like Seb?"
Chris chokes on his spit. How old was this girl again and when did she get so good at reading people? "W-what?" He stammers in response.
"Do you like Seb? As in like like." Ellie says innocently.
Heat flushed up Chris's neck and over his cheeks. "I— Uh...." Chris sighs. "You caught me."
Ellie giggles. "Why don't you ask him out?"
"How old are you again?"
Sebastian comes over then, holding two plates of apple pie and smiling gently. "Here you are," he says sweetly, placing them down. "Can I get you anything else?"
Sebastian was blushing intensely at the smug look on Ellie's face and he had no idea why. Something about it made him nervous. Chris smirks. "No thanks, Kitten."
Sebastian groans. "For god's sake— you too?"
Chris laughs. "It's a keeper."
Sebastian walks away mumbling curses under his breath. Letitia comes up behind him and wraps him in a hug, whispering softly. "Your okay, right?"
Sebastian nods. "Yeah, course—
"You know what I mean." She says in utter seriousness. "It's not too much? Cause if it is, I can man the register?"
Sebastian smiles small. "Le, I'm okay." He reassures. "Its not bad today, but if it does change, I'll tell you, okay?"
Letitia nods. "Okay, sorry. You just worry me."
Sebastian giggles. "I know."
A buzz sounds from Sebastian's pocket. He pulls out his phone and looks down at the new message, his chest tightening.
EMILY: Hey, we need to talk about what we're gonna do next for the plan!!! It's been long enough, hasn't it?
Sebastian sighs. Fuck.
****
The next day at school, Emily was waiting for Sebastian at his locker. He sighs and allows her to link their arms. He didn't want to do the plan, not after what happened to Chris.
"Come on, Seb." Emily groans. "It's been weeks and nothing else has happened! We just have to be more careful."
Sebastian shakes his head. "I don't have a good feeling about it, Em." He really didn't. "What if it happens again and we aren't there to help him? Or what if he gets beaten up? Or—"
Emily cuts him off with the raise of her hand. "Seb." She says sternly. "I know you're scared, but I promise you, I would never put Chris's life in danger. We can do this. It will be fine."
And so, Sebastian had no choice but to agree.
****
Next chap is extremely sad and I almost cried while writing it cause I felt so awful.