The room as dark and warm, occupied by two sleeping people sharing a bed. The two boys, for it was two boys sharing the bed, were not touching. The taller one was curled in on himself as if he knew that there was a possibility of contact that he wished to avoid. The smaller one was at first glance in a similar position, curled up and tiny in the king sized bed, but underneath the covers, in an act not even he was conscious of, his hand was laid out and directed towards the other boy, fruitless in its search for contact.
When the first rays of light pierced the blinds and forced their way into the room the smaller boy, being closer to the window, shifted and began the transition from sleeping to waking. When he had a grasp on reality once again he turned to look at the other occupant of the bed. He remembered blurs of the night before, being taken to a bar, dancing erratically underneath the strobe lighting and amidst a heaving mass of bodies. There was a faint memory of faceless people grinding against him, buying him drink after drink, calling him all sorts of things which made him blush and his ego flair. Stronger that those memories was the memory of a voice, a face, a level of sarcastic charm that made him swoon before he had even begun to realise what was happening. Between then and sneaking into the other boy's dorm room he remembered very little, but after that his memory became very lucid. Uncomfortably so.
If his brain was correct his bed mate was called Sebastian. The last name escaped him, it was unimportant. They had both been drunk the night before, but he vividly remembered being told over and over again in various hidden and subtle ways that this was to be a one-time thing, that Sebastian didn't do the relationship drama, that Rory was to become 'another face' but he was definitely a pretty one.
He sighed and decided that then would be a very good time to leave. He was pretty sure that he was supposed to have left in the night, after the festivities were over, but Sebastian crashed out shortly after and he couldn't resist the soft white sheets and warm body when he was so tired. It had been unreasonably saddening when Sebastian had pulled away from Rory's embrace even while he was asleep. It told Rory that Sebastian was practiced in this routine. He wondered how many people had been hurt by this boy and he told himself he would not be one of them.
Despite common opinions, Rory was tougher than he looked, not physically but emotionally. With all the bullying he had gone through in Ireland and in Ohio he had developed a rather thick skin. He had a soft, fluffy, adorable persona and he truly was a very loving person when he had the chance, but it took a lot to properly hurt him. This situation didn't even begin to breach that tough skin, so he decided to shake it off.
As he was slipping on his jeans, he tugged too violently and kicked the bed. The swearing that followed woke Sebastian and Rory watched, frozen with his jeans half way up his thighs, as he opened his eyes blearily. He quickly zeroed in on Rory, still looking like a deer in the headlights.
'Oh. You're still here.'
The words were slightly muffled by the yawn that escaped at the end but other than that the tone was flat.
'I was just going, sorry to wake you.'
Sebastian looked puzzled, and Rory took the moment of silence as a chance to do up the button on his jeans and slip on his discarded shirt, grimacing at what he assumed was a beer stain on the front. Checking his pockets he found that his keys and phone were both absent and he swore again knowing that looking for them would prolong the awkward situation.
'You were just going.'
Sebastian said it somewhat dreamily, mulling it over rather than actually talking to Rory. Then he sat up on his elbows, shifted the pillow below him, before leaning back on the headboard and surveying Rory as he ambled around on the floor searching for the lost items. He chuckled dryly before clearing his throat.
'Most of the guys I bring back require persuasion to leave in the morning. You know the type, awfully hot but annoyingly clingy. Why are you so different? Don't tell me I did something wrong last night because at the time you seemed to be enjoying it immensely.'
He smirked as Rory when the Irish boy's face appeared at the end of the bed where he'd been collecting his possessions from under it. He shook his head slightly, a faint smile of amusement on his face.
'No, I enjoyed last night very much thank you, and that thing you do with your tongue was incredible'
Sebastian's smirk deepened making him look sinister and dangerous and, all together, pretty damn sexy.
'But despite your prowess at all things dirty, you made it very clear that this was a one night stand and so that is what I took it for. Am I wrong? Are you looking for a boyfriend?'
He lifted his eyebrow in what he imagined would be a challenging way, letting it fall back in to place when Sebastian shook his head in the negative. By that time Rory was fully dressed with everything he remembered coming with safely back in his pockets. He started towards the door, conscious of the eyes on his back, but he stopped before he reached it and turned back towards the bed.
'Can I ask you why you do this?'
'Why I do what?'
'One night stands. I'm sensing this isn't your first and I doubt it's your last.'
Sebastian laughed, the sound like golden honey, rich and smooth.
'God I hope this isn't my last, not that you would be a bad finale, you're not so bad with your tongue either and you are certainly cute, however, I do it because it's fun. Nothing more enjoyable than hot stranger sex don't you think?'
'I don't know, you were my first.'
The air froze and Sebastian's eyes widened, the easy smile falling from his face. Confused, Rory replayed the conversation, then his eyes widened too.
'God, no! I don't mean you were my first as in my 'first time', I meant my first one night stand. Shit, sorry.'
There was the sound of air being expelled and time span back to normal speed.
'Holy crap dude, don't do that to me. But seriously? You've never had a one night stand before?'
'Nope. Only slept with past boyfriends and girlfriends, but I get the feeling you've never had a boyfriend before have you?'
Sebastian looked away, suddenly embarrassed, but unsure why. It used to be something he was proud of, he had slept with everyone he had ever wanted to sleep with, barring celebrities, and even then he had checked off a few on that list too. But here he was, talking to the cure little Irish boy from the night before, and feeling embarrassed that he had never been in a relationship, it made no sense, Sebastian Smythe was never insecure, what was happening to him. Aware that the silence had stretched on too long he pulled everything together and looked back.
'You seem to know me too well; did I get too drunk last night and tell you my life story or something?'
'Trust me, we didn't talk much last night, you're just easy to read.'
Sebastian hoped that wasn't true. A lot of his life revolved around the masks he wore. The mask for his parents, the mask for school, the mask for his lovers, each one covering up the lost little boy beneath, the one he was slowly trying to kill, smothering him with all the different masks, creating a false reality. He couldn't, wouldn't let anyone see through them. So how did Rory?
'You should go.'
'And you should learn to let someone in.'
'You should mind your own damn business.'
Rory laughed.
'Alright Sebastian, I'll leave it alone after this. In my experience being in love with someone, knowing that you have one person who is all yours and you are all theirs, and not just for a night, not just physically, it's the most amazing feeling in the world. Sure it hurts like hell sometimes, and breaking up sucks, but you can't live like this forever, and you can't tell me it doesn't already hurt every time you wake up in an empty bed, in a house you don't know. Or every time you see a couple holding hands, kissing, smiling like they're in love. You aren't heartless Sebastian, don't let it come to that.'
And with that he left, glad it was early on a Saturday making his sneaking out that much easier. He didn't know if he had made any impression, hoped he wasn't too late to help, hoped he had helped, but he was glad that he had tried because despite his better judgement, something in him liked Sebastian.
He didn't have the heart to kill that part even though one day he was pretty sure it would kill him. If it did he hoped it meant seeing Sebastian again, but that was a thought for another time, right now he just wanted an aspirin and his own bed. Being a good person was hard with a hangover, he reminded himself to never do it again.
The ending wasn't brilliant but I'm pretty happy with the story. If people want it I might do a sequel of them meeting again, see if Sebastian has changed at all. I don't know. We'll see.
Thank you for reading. x
