"It's all fun and games... Until it's not."
Things like those were meant to be learnt the hard way. Through pain and suffering, it was the only way those kind of lessons were learnt. Sebastian was no exception to that rule, sadly, and it took the death of someone he thought he deeply cared about to realise that any control he thought he had over himself was nothing but an illusion.
Running away from his grandmother every night to see Blaine had always been fun to him. He hated being locked in, forced to spend most if not all of his day inside their little home, only to be visited by the curly-haired boy during the night. He was the only one that managed to bring some interest into Sebastian's life, more so when he managed to sneak him into his room to do a little more than just share innocent kisses with each other. Those moments were the highlights of his days. Was that love? He had no idea, but what he did know was that he liked how it felt to be in control, to make the young man underneath him struggle to remain silent while he trusted in and out of his body because they both knew that if Sebastian's Granny saw them there would be hell to pay. It was risky, it was exciting, it was fun. It was almost as fun as seeing the old woman freak out every time Sebastian refused to wear the red riding hood that 'scared the wolves away', according to his grandmother. He always thought it was stupid and the hood was hideous to begin with, so why wear it? If the wolf was going to kill him, he doubted it would even care what he was wearing. If anything, it would only kill him faster after seeing him wear it. So every night when the moon was full, as soon as his grandmother left to do her usual stand against the barricaded with her trusty crossbow, Sebastian took off the hood and headed to sleep. Those nights were the only ones when he denied Blaine's visits because as fun as it would be, the security in the little cottage where he lived got a lot tighter during the full moon.
That was how his life was, the same every day and the older he got, the more tired he grew of it. Blaine kept proposing to run away with him, claiming that he loved him and while Sebastian wasn't sure of his feelings, the idea of running away was tempting, no matter who it was with. And if that blacksmith's son could grant him his freedom, then it was worth thinking about it.
Sebastian wanted a change in his life and without a doubt, he got it. But not in the way he was expecting it at all.
It started during one of the full moons, when the wolf was out. The townspeople were once again attempting to start a hunting party to find and kill the fearsome beast and, as always, the old Widow Smythe shut her down, telling them they were fools for going after a certain death before kicking them out after Sebastian suggested going with them. Then came the same old routine of locking the doors and windows, heading to bed and wait for the following day to come. As soon as he woke up the following morning, his grandmother made him go check if the chickens had been killed by the wolf and pick up some eggs if they were still alive. Like always, Sebastian just nodded and went to do as he was told, knowing that arguing against the old woman was like talking to a brick wall. The chickens were alive, just like every time he went to check and he left his mind drift as he began to pick up their eggs. What if he did as Blaine told him and ran away? He couldn't keep living that life forever, he was tired of it and he wondered how he had managed to go through it for so long. Maybe it was because he felt pity for his grandmother, who claimed to love him so much but yet didn't let him take a breath without her approval. She was old and alone and even he could feel pity for her despite considering himself quite cold hearted.
He was so focused in his own thoughts that he failed to notice that there was something moving in the back of the small barn. It wasn't until that something made a noise that Sebastian snapped out of his thoughts and looked up, half-expecting to see the wolf sleeping there. But instead, he found himself looking into a pair of big blue eyes that were staring at him with fear. They belonged to a boy that must have been the same age as Sebastian, but his features made him appear much younger than that. He was thin and he had a green cloak over his worn out clothes that looked like it had been the only thing that belonged to him. Close to his chest he was holding a couple of eggs and the fear in his eyes made it obvious that he had stolen them.
"I, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to steal them. Well, yes, but I was just really hungry and last night there was a thing howling and it was cold and I saw this place and I got in and I'm so sorry sir I didn't mean to..."
The boy wouldn't stop rambling and Sebastian couldn't help but chuckle at him. There was no doubt to him that this stranger was completely lost and most importantly, harmless. He didn't even look like he could survive out in the woods by himself and he had somehow managed to avoid getting killed by the wolf the previous night. He definitely had some luck on his side, but the thing that captivated Sebastian the most were those eyes. There was something in them, some sort of innocence that he had never seen before in his life. And he liked that, much more than anything else he had laid his eyes on. Soon, he was wearing a smirk on his face and moving his basket closer to the boy, who still looked like a dog with it's tail between his legs. He took the hint and placed the eggs there with the others that Sebastian had picked out.
"Looks like you just saved yourself from the big bad wolf. What's your name, green?"
The boy with the green cloak and the big blue eyes looked confused for a moment, surprised at the taller one's kindness after he had been found stealing from him. He hesitated a moment before answering, but he ended up smiling a little and extending his hand for Sebastian to shake.
"Rory... My name's Rory."
Sebastian's smirk grew a little bigger as he reached out to shake Rory's hand, not knowing that the gesture and the words that he was about to say would be the end of life as he knew it.
"Sebastian. Come on, get inside. We have an extra room and you look like you really need it."
