twenty » tell me again

20

Again.

In which Sebastian needs reassurance.

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EVERYTHING MOVED IN SLOW MOTION AS his eyes fluttered closed and he collapsed centimetres away from me. My eyebrows furrowed instantly and I closed the distance between us just in time to minimise the thud of his fall. What the hell was happening?

We all gasped, some unsure whether to get up from the seats when Sebastian's parents and siblings rushed towards his side because Athena was muttering incoherently and Flynn had taken his phone out so quickly that I didn't even notice it.

My hands cradled his head and I felt the crushed glass dig into my hand slightly because I wasn't aware it was there. In fact, I wasn't sure that I heard it dropped, which made me realise how my heart almost lurched out of my chest when I saw him in pain.

If it meant what I thought it did, Sebastian meant a lot more to me than I realised. I shook my head since it was such a bad time to think about the fact that I was falling in love with him, especially because he wasn't moving in my arms.

"He's just fainted," Isla confirmed, relief filling her tone. "He's fine."

In unison, his family eased up as Athena rubbed at her temples. "Ash is going to send me to an early grave." She grumbled, clasping his hand in hers.

After a minute passed, I put him into the recovery position and began to unbutton the first two buttons of his dress shirt once I loosened his tie. When he started to come around, the first thing he caught was my gaze, which made him wince.

"Can I," his speech was slurred before he bit his lip and opened his eyes groggily. "Have—."

From him licking his lips, I deduced that he needed water and stood up to grab my glass since his one had shattered. Kaia unbuttoned his suit jacket and when I raised his body in my arms slightly to bring the water to his lips, he noticed my bleeding hand.

I swatted his hand away. "Just drink the water."

He almost finished the whole glass as one of the waiters came towards me with a first aid kit. "You don't want it to get infected." She murmured, picking the small glass shard that was in my hand and wiping the cut with an antiseptic wipe.

She wrapped my hand and proceeded to sweep up the glass. Athena stood up and apologised to everyone that was there and that they could still carry on with their night when the ambulance came.

"Did I hurt you?" he questioned, his voice laced thickly with misplaced guilt.

"No," I leaned down and kissed his forehead. "I didn't see the glass. How do you feel?"

He attempted to smile, but it came across as a wince once his dark eyes glided up to mine. "Uh..." his cheeks heated up. "Embarrassed." He closed his eyes and controlled his breathing.

My good hand wandered down to stroke his face, my fingertips tracing the outline of his features softly. My heart accelerated since he was so handsome and never failed to elicit such strong emotions from me. His dark sienna eyes met mine again and it simply stared like everything around us had come to a standstill.

Weak fingers wrap around my hand as he brought it towards his mouth, puckering his lips slightly. There was a dazed look in his eye, but once he realised the ambulance had finally come, his gaze focused on mine.

"Can you stay with me?" his voice was quiet, completely different from how he usually acted. He was tired, which was evident in the way his eyelids drooped as he was loaded into the ambulance.

I was overcome with guilt since I thought that his family deserved to be with him a lot more than I did, but when I remained rooted in my place, Athena ushered me forward.

"We're right behind you. Go, Mira." Her deep blue eyes shone with concern.

Everything else was a blur, but Sebastian held my hand through it all, and at that point, I didn't know whether I was comforting him or he was comforting me. When we arrived at the hospital, a doctor was waiting for Sebastian with a frown plastered on his face.

Sebastian's stretcher was raised slightly so he met the doctor's eyes.

"I would say I'm happy to see you, Sebastian, but definitely not under these circumstances." His voice carried over to where we were and he had a stethoscope around his neck. Taking over from the paramedics, he began checking over him.

And after the doctor mentioned that he had to talk to Sebastian in private, I stayed behind and bought myself a coffee once his family arrived. I hoped it was nothing serious, which it probably wasn't because they didn't look too worried.

"Does this happen often?" I questioned Kaia as I took a seat next to her.

She tilted her head to level her gaze on mine. Slowly nodding, she averted her eyes to a plain spot on the wall. "He has fainting spells, but it's only frequent if he works himself too hard and doesn't look after himself."

I made a mental note to make sure that he looked after himself. What sort of girlfriend would I be if I didn't stop him from overstepping boundaries? Letting his health deteriorate was definitely a boundary to me.

Once the doctor exited the room, he reassured us all and went on about his other business when we all acknowledged his words with sighs of relief.

"He had me so worried," I admitted to her, slipping my heels off. "I almost felt sick to my stomach."

She smiled softly and curled her hand around my shoulder in a gesture of consolation. "It's amazing to know someone loves him like he deserves to be loved."

Love? My soul has been snatched.

My hand clutched at the imaginary pearls around my neck and I choked out a feeble, "What?"

Her timber eyes gleamed and her lips curled upwards into a knowing smile. "I see the way you look at each other, Mira. Maybe you two haven't realised it yet, but you're head over heels in love with each other."

My head lowered sheepishly and I sunk my teeth into my bottom lip. "I'm definitely falling in love with him, but I don't know if I love him yet, Kaia."

She simply nodded in understanding and soberly continued to speak. "I didn't think it was possible for him to love again, but you've turned his world around and somehow I see the better version of him; the happy and in love one."

After what seemed like a lifetime to me, I was finally able to see him. My walking pace was slow and calm, but my hand yearned to touch his face and lean into his touch. What was blossoming between us felt like this undeniable pull, and as soon as I gave in, he soon became all I wanted.

"Hey," he murmured, a lazy smile dotting his lips with his head tilted slightly on the pillow. I stopped once I was by his side, my eyes quickly examining the state he was in. He was dehydrated so he was connected to a few things to get some fluids into him. "Let me see those eyes, pumpkin."

Our hands folded together and his other hand came under my chin and raised my head to bring my eyes to his. Mine were slightly darker than his. So much so that it could be mistaken for black.

"I'm alright, okay?" he uttered, pulling back his hand to cup my face. "Stop worrying." Gentle fingers smoothed out the wrinkles my frown created as he laid a series of barely-there kisses along my jawline.

"You need to look after yourself better." I chided with a gentle but stern voice, removing his hands from my face just so I could hold his in mine. My thumb caressed his cheek and I laid my forehead on his to closely look him in the eyes. "Promise me, Sebastian."

He nodded almost instantly, giving me what I wanted to hear whilst making space for me on the bed. He was staying overnight for observation, which meant it was a night I'd have to go without cuddling. And that meant I would get little to no sleep. But he was quick to shut that down.

Before, I hated the fact that I became so dependent and attached to Sebastian, but with both our feelings there, it felt right. Right to be there in his arms and listen to the symphony that was his heartbeat.

Right to be so in love with him that I couldn't even think straight once I came to that realisation. Holy shit. I'm in love with him.

His arms wound around my body and his lips pressed to my temple. "What a way to end my birthday, huh?"

Directing my head to glance upon him, I reached up a hand so my thumb could run across the line of his plump bottom lip. I was very much aware of the bandage that went around my hand, but as long as I didn't apply a lot of pressure, it was like it was barely there.

"We can have a do-over," I offered with a light smile, leaning upwards to slant my lips over his. "I'll do anything you want."

He emitted a deep laugh, pulling back to scan my face. "Maybe you shouldn't tell me that when I'm in a hospital bed with nowhere to go."

Resting my head back on his chest, my hand flattened against his abdomen to feel the hard ridges of his muscles and the tautness of his skin. His hand followed mine, intertwining our fingers tenderly. I had planned to go further down, but he caught on and brought my attention back to his warm honey eyes.

"Go to sleep, Mira."

Accommodating our bodies into a more comfortable position meant that within minutes, we were both sound asleep in each other's arms.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

When I began to stir from my sleep, the sound of hushed voices filled the room. I was laying on the bed by myself and through the slits of my eyes, I watched Sebastian change out of the hospital's clothes.

He was slipping on sweatpants when I laid eyes on the jagged scar starting from his hipbone and ending at his mid-thigh. It didn't look fresh and the skin of the scar was pale but not unnoticeable.

"I don't agree with it," Athena spoke sternly. I closed my eyes and continued to listen. "She's an incredible woman and she doesn't even know you don't want the relationship to last."

A scoff fell from Sebastian. "I want her, and I made it clear to her." He lowered his voice with what he said next, and if I strained, it would be evident that I was awake. "You underestimate how much she means to me."

"I don't agree with it." She reiterated, disappointment leaking from her tone. "A secret that dark shouldn't be kept from someone who means a lot to you. She'll run for the hills as soon as you tell her."

Sebastian has a secret?

"Then she'll run," he all but growled out. "She makes me happy, Mum. Why can't you just let this go?"

"Because she doesn't deserve to be kept in the dark."

Deciding I had enough of eavesdropping, I stretched out my limbs groggily. To keep the act, I reached out for Sebastian and when they saw, I opened my eyes in a confused manner. My lips parted before I met Sebastian's gaze and his lips lifted into an angelic smile.

"Good morning, sleepyhead."

My dress from the night before was right on my skin and had ridden up my legs so I ensured that I held the covers close as I sat up in the small bed, rendering the mother and son in front of me with a soft smile. "Good morning. You're good to go?"

He nodded and one glance to Athena showed me that she was stiffly standing behind Sebastian with kind eyes staring at me. Before he could answer, she intercepted. "I need to get back to your father and Avery with breakfast. I'll see you two later."

Leaving us in the hospital room, there was a beat of silence prior to Sebastian approaching me and proceeding to hand me a bag of clothes. He delivered a gentle kiss to my forehead when he reached on the bed to retrieve his shirt. He slipped it on without a word, watching as I stood up from the bed once he took a seat on it.

"The doc prescribed some medication, but I'm good."

I acknowledged his response as I touched the hem of my dress. He didn't seem to be going anywhere so I just decided to change in front of him. Pulling it up and over my head, I praised my decision to wear decent underwear as his eyes slowly raked over my body, his coffee eyes drinking me in.

A smirk made its way onto my face whilst I rummaged in the bag, removing all of its contents. His fingers reached out and curled around my hips to pull me in between his legs. I stared down at his dilated pupils, my hands cradling his face.

"You're so beautiful." He ducked his head and laid a kiss below the underwire of my bra. His fingertips set my cold body alight and my cheeks warmed immensely when his tongue passed his lips to press against my skin. "I really wish we weren't in a hospital right now." His breath fanned my skin as he pulled back to meet my eyes. "I've wanted you so bad since the first night we met."

I grinned down at him before I had to force myself to step out of his hold and put my clothes on. I wanted him just as bad, but the one thing that roamed my mind was what was he hiding from me?

The first thing that came to my mind when Athena said a 'dark secret' was murder, but picturing Sebastian as a murderer was frankly laughable. He was so kind and caring that I didn't think he had it in him.

Could our relationship be built on lies?

Once we were both ready, we exited the hospital room as I popped a chewing gum into my mouth before reaching for Sebastian's hand. He tilted his head over his shoulder and rendered me almost speechless with the smile he gave me.

Kale approached us with a sigh of relief and attempted to turn us in the other direction. Sebastian's eyebrows drew close and he halted his movements. "What's happening?"

"The press is waiting for you at the back of the hospital because they expect you to exit that way, but I have a car waiting at the front entrance for you."

Sebastian nodded and clapped a hand down onto his shoulder. "Good job, Kale."

He proceeded to walk in front of us as we made our way to the car. Sebastian sat at the window and pulled me to sit directly next to him. His arm came around my waist and I leaned my head on his shoulder as he intertwined our hands again.

All I had to think about was he would tell me when he was ready. But, I had to reassure him that I wouldn't run, I wouldn't have it in me because of how I felt about him. Tilting my head, I kissed my way up his neck to his ear. "Tell me something. Are you serious about us?"

His hands cupped my face to bring my eyes to his, a small frown marring his features as if he didn't think I'd question it. "Yes. No one has ever made me feel the way you do, and I would be a stupid man to not want that in my future. Are you?"

A smile tipped my lips upwards and I leaned forward to press a hard short kiss to his mouth. "Just the thought of not being with you breaks my heart. I'll want you for as long as you'll want me."

Something sparked in his eyes and his facial expression softened with ease. "No matter what?"

I almost nodded before I realised there was an exception. Maybe his reaction could tell me if it was his secret. "Well, unless you have a wife and kid on the side or you cheat on me, then I'll always be here for you."

He emitted a short bark of laughter and kissed me squarely, passion leaking into the short kiss. "Definitely no wife and kid on the side," he confirmed once he pulled back. "And I haven't slept with anyone since I met you. I mean it when I say you're the only one I'll ever want."

That eased my worries slightly, but if Sebastian was in it for the long haul, then he'd eventually tell me what he was hiding from me. All I had to do was trust in the fact that we felt the same about each other, and that was enough for him to fully let me in.

I was an open book to him, he practically knew everything about me. But, thinking about it then and there, I realised that I found it easier to open up to people who were close to me.

"Tell me again."

Our eyes met and he slanted his lips across mine, kissing me softly for a moment. "I'll always be here for you." My gaze didn't waver from his so he knew that I was one hundred per cent serious.

I intended to keep my promise, no matter what happened with him.