I Think You're My Best Friend
A/N: I love you guys too much to leave you with that! You all should know I might actually be addicted to reading your reviews. Every time I get stumped and don't know what to write I reread them and basically tell myself "c'mon you gotta think of something awesome". I mean obviously reading them made me really happy but also kind of sad because I freaked some of you out. So you'll just have to accept this new chapter as my apology ;)
(Also don't worry I gave Sebastian a hug from all of you even though he doesn't like hugs too much. He kind of just squirmed away awkwardly and told me to stop touching him but I'm sure he appreciated it.)
(Also my author's notes are always ridiculously long. Sorry my dudes I talk a lot. On with the story!)
*12 years later*
"Sebastian, you're being even more of an asshole than usual. Why are you being such an ass? Do you need a Snickers or something?" Hunter asked, glaring at the said grumpy asshole.
Sebastian gave Hunter a tired side-glance. "I'm generally not the friendliest person to be around, haven't you caught onto that by now? I'm not acting anymore asshole-y than usual."
Hunter huffed. "I'm aware, but you are acting like more of an ass tonight. What's the word? Hm... Oh! A douce, you're acting like a douce. You just yelled at the bartender, man. That's a low even for you."
"Hunter, I'm telling you, I'm just a massive dick. Keep up," Sebastian said with a cocky shit-eating grin. Honestly he was being extra grumpy and mean tonight.
Hunter looked Sebastian over again, as if trying to find a way to get him to talk. "A massive dick with coffee stains," he added simply. The thing was, Hunter wasn't just randomly being a total dick to his friend, there was a method to his madness. He suspected Sebastian had been hiding a toothache from him. It was small subtle things that gave it away, things that a normal person wouldn't have noticed. Well, Hunter wasn't exactly normal in the sense that he couldn't help but pick up on certain body language that he was used to seeing everyday. Sebastian had been uncomfortably shifting his jaw all night, only chewing on one side of his mouth (which wouldn't have been that easy to spot, but apparently Sebastian wasn't good at hiding a sore tooth because he figured it wasn't obvious when he shoved a bunch of food in one side of his mouth), and occasionally Hunter caught him messing with some tooth at the back of his mouth with his tongue. Well, that one was a little more obvious than the others because the face that came along with it was rather stupid looking.
Sebastian's cocky smile fell and Hunter could have sworn he looked self-conscious for a second, but an instant later it melted back into his usual cocky demeanor. Though, it did take him a few good seconds to think of a comeback. "You poor thing, I think your eyesight is starting to give out on you. You might want to get that checked."
Hunter laughed at Sebastian's lame excuse for a comeback. "God man, you're off your game tonight."
"Well you're off your game every night, so I suppose I'm still doing better than you."
Hunter didn't bother defending himself because they both knew that wasn't true. "Well Sebastian, as much as I'm sure you'd love for me to change the subject, I have to ask. Have you been seeing someone?"
"Hunter, you know I don't kiss and tell," Sebastian replied simply, taking a sip of his beer.
Hunter rolled his eyes tiredly. "That's not what I meant and you know it. A dentist Sebastian, have you been seeing a dentist?"
Sebastian took another sip of his beer, trying to look casual but Hunter could tell by the slight tremor in his hand that he was getting nervous. "Hunter, the last time I checked you weren't my mother. So unless you have some news to break to me, do me a favor and stop talking."
Hunter let out a small nose laugh. "Sebastian, I am your mother," he exclaimed in his best Darth Vader impression.
Sebastian rolled his eyes. "You have no right to complain about being single when you say things like that. You're doing it to yourself, that's why you're single my friend."
"Hey, ladies dig Star Wars," Hunter defended. "Anyway Sebastian, you know you're just trying to change the subject. I'm making you uncomfortable and you don't want to admit it."
"I couldn't care less about your patronizing, Hunter."
"Oh don't give me that bullshit, I know you're uncomfortable talking about this and I know you're scared shitless of the dentist. You forget I was there Sophomore year when your mom flew in and dragged your ass there. You were terrified." It was then that Hunter realized his tactics weren't exactly helpful, because now Sebastian was getting embarrassed and uncomfortable and he was shielding it with anger.
Sebastian's face now burned an angry shade of red, and he hopped off the bar stool. Hunter didn't have the to talk about that, he had no fucking idea. "I don't know what the hell you're trying to prove here, but I'm leaving. Drink here alone. Maybe someone will take pity on your pathetic ass and you'll get laid," Sebastian spat angrily.
Hunter got up and followed Sebastian outside. "I'm sorry, that was a dick move on my part. I'll drop it, but you never told me what was wrong," he tried.
"You," Sebastian said simply. "You won't get off my ass, that's what's wrong."
"Well, I'm not completely sure where you think you're going anyhow, I'm your ride home," Hunter countered.
Sebastian sighed in frustration. "I'll call a cab."
"Alright, call a cab then," Hunter paused, "ooooor you can come back inside and we can pretend I never brought up the thing you don't want to talk about," he added.
Sebastian thought about it for a few seconds before putting his phone back in his pocket. "Okay fine, but I swear to god Hunter I will not sit here and let you patronize me. Don't bring it up again," Sebastian warned.
Hunter nodded in agreement and they went back inside. Sebastian had a few drinks (A/N: I know absolutely nothing about alcohol so you'll have to forgive me for the vagueness, so just use your imagination. I literally only know that beer tastes vaguely of what I imagine piss would taste like, and cheap wine kind of taste like cough syrup, both of which aren't going to help me write this), and he was pretty drunk by the end of the night. Hunter on the other hand spent the entire night playing pool and trying to get Sebastian drunk enough to spill his secret, but sadly Sebastian was pretty good at holding his liquor so it wasn't working as planned.
"So you still don't want to tell me what's wrong?" Hunter prompted.
"Not any more than I wanted to tell you three hours ago, Hunter."
"But you admit something is wrong?"
"Yes Hunter, something's wrong but I don't want to talk about it. Life sucks sometimes, whatever. I'm not going to whine about it to you."
Hunter sighed. "Sebastian, but as your friend I'm asking you to tell me. It's different if I'm asking to know. Please tell me."
"No chick flick moments," Sebastian reminded.
"God, you call me a nerd for liking Star Wars but you just quoted Supernatural."
"Supernatural isn't nerdy, it's cool."
"So is Star Wars."
"Nu-uh, nerd."
Hunter gave Sebastian a tired look, a silent, 'that's the best you can do?'
"Don't look at me like that, I'm drunk. I can't be a proper sasshole when I'm drunk."
"Come on Seb, spill all of your dirty little secrets to your good old friend Hunter. He's only got your best intentions in mind," Hunter said with a cheeky grin.
Sebastian shook his head. He might have been fairly drunk, but he was twice as stubborn as he was drunk and he had no intentions to tell Hunter what was actually going on with him, so he didn't. So the night ended with Sebastian crashing on Hunter's sofa.
The next morning Sebastian woke up to a mild hangover. His head had an annoying ache to it, but he was alright. Hunter on the other hand felt fine as he only had a single beer throughout the course of the night. So he was making breakfast.
Sebastian walked into the kitchen, only half awake with his hair going in several different messy directions.
"Coffee's in the pot," Hunter said.
"If only coffee actually helped with hangovers," Sebastian commented, pouring himself a cup.
"The placebo effect is a very powerful tool, my friend. Believe in the coffee," Hunter commented. "Or, you know, Advil probably works too," he added, tossing Sebastian a bottle of Advil. (#notsposed because this isn't YouTube but hey Advil hit me up if you're interested ;)
Sebastian gratefully accepted the bottle Hunter tossed at him. "So what are you cooking?"
"Pancakes. They look really nice, I'm not sure why I don't have my own cooking show yet; I'm great," Hunter answered. He finished making the pancakes and made a plate for Sebastian. It had said pancakes with syrup and various fruits with a side of sausage. "So Sebastian, still don't wanna tell me what's wrong?"
"Well, you see Hunter, my childhood was very traumatic. It was full of pancake deprivation and all kinds of messed up stuff. My mom never shared her pancakes with me, it still haunts me to this day. I'm just... I'm having flashbacks. Oh god Hunter it was so traumatic," Sebastian said over dramatically.
Hunter rolled his eyes in un-amusement. "Alright, fine. If you don't want to talk about it I'll talk at you. I think I owe it to you anyway, and I'm tired of dancing around the topic. Listen Sebastian, I'm sorry about what I did sophomore year. I shouldn't have went behind your back and told her, I'll admit that was wrong, but I don't regret doing it. You wouldn't have gotten out of pain otherwise. You were relieved when it was over and you weren't in pain anymore." Hunter could see in Sebastian's eyes that he was angry. "You're angry. Is it at me? I want to understand Sebastian. Tell me why you're angry, yell at me if you want to. Just tell me, please."
Sebastian shook his head, laughing to himself bitterly. "I was not relieved," he chocked out. "You don't get it, Hunter. Everything wasn't fucking fine! You don't know what it was like for me, what that guy did to me. It was anything but okay!"
"Sebastian, what happened?" Hunter asked, sounding genuinely concerned.
"No. I'm not talking about it," Sebastian refused.
"Why not? You can trust me Sebastian, I'm just trying to help."
"Hunter, I can't."
"Yes you can."
"No Hunter, understand what I'm saying you ass. I can't, I physically can't," Sebastian snapped. "We're dropping this before you get to see the lovely breakfast you cooked for the second time."
Hunter sighed but ended up dropping the subject for now.
It didn't come up again until Hunter met back up with Sebastian a few days later to check in on him. He walked into his apartment, not bothering to knock.
"I could have been naked, Hunter. Learn to knock," Sebastian said tiredly.
"I could have been a murderer, learn to lock your door," Hunter said simply.
"Touché."
Hunter sat down on the sofa next to Sebastian, now getting a good chance to look at him. What he was greeted with officially made him done with this beating around the bush shit.
"My god Sebastian have you seen your face?!" Hunter exclaimed, turning Sebastian's face to him.
"Hunter, don't put your damn hand on my face. My face is fine," he said, smacking Hunter's hand away.
"No, this is ridiculous. I'm tired of waiting for you to admit something's wrong because it's gotten to the point where your face is telling me for you," he said, standing up and standing in front of Sebastian to get a better look at him.
Sebastian stood up and tried to walk away from Hunter casually but he was trembling. "Hunter it's fine," he said quickly. "I-it doesn't hurt that much. It doesn't hurt at all after a few shots of vodka so that means it isn't serious."
"Your reasoning is fucking stupid. Vodka isn't going to fix this you moron. Your tooth is infected now, that's why your cheek is swollen. This needs to be taken care of now, Sebastian. If the infection gets into your bloodstream you could die," Hunter said, getting up and following Sebastian and backing him into a corner so he couldn't scurry away. "Let me see. I need to see if there's an abscess."
"Hunter back off!" Sebastian yelled as his heart beat violently in his chest. "Don't fucking touch me! This is none of your business, now move! I don't want to hurt you, Hunter."
"We both know I'm stronger than you, Sebastian. I'm not going to hurt you, just let me look. This is my business, I'm your friend and I care even if you don't get that now," he pressed.
Sebastian was getting really freaked out because Hunter was literally backing him into a corner. So out of instinct when he got too close Sebastian took a swing at Hunter's face and hit him square in the eye.
"Ahh, fuck you you little shit!" he screamed. "Oh I should kick your ass for that!" Hunter was pissed now, so he grabbed Sebastian's wrist and twisted it back to incapacitate him. He then pinned Sebastian's arm behind his back and tackled him to the floor.
"Ow, shit! Hunter I didn't mean to punch you in the face, I'm sorry," Sebastian apologized. "Please let me up, I won't punch you again."
"I think you should just stare at the floor and think about what you did."
"Hunter, but this hurts."
"So does my face you asshole."
Hunter had Sebastian pinned down for a few seconds so he could cool down and resist the urge to kick his ass, and hopefully to let Sebastian find whatever slice of sanity he had left.
"Alright, I'll let you up if you let me look at your tooth. It'll take a few seconds tops," Hunter offered.
"And if I don't let you?"
"Then we're going to sit here on the floor all day. Now I don't know about you, but there's a number of ways I'd like to spend my Wednesday, none of which include pinning your sorry ass to the floor. So Sebastian, how is our lovely Wednesday going to proceed?"
Sebastian's arm was in quite a painful position, so he agreed. "Fine, fine. I'll let you look Hunter, just get your Hulk ass off of me."
Hunter rolled his eyes and let Sebastian up. "Why am I the Hulk? You're the one that punched me in the fucking face, Sebastian. I think it's reasonable that I restrained you. That's what you're supposed to do with violent psychopaths."
Sebastian casually got up off the floor. "Well I didn't plan to punch you again..." he defended lamely. He looked at Hunter and noticed one of his eyes were turning an ugly red color. "Oh my god your eye looks gross."
"Hm, I wonder why!" Hunter shouted. He took a second to calm himself before turning back to Sebastian. "Come on, we're going in the bathroom where the lightings better so I can look." Sebastian looked skeptical and didn't follow Hunter to the bathroom. Hunter gave him a warning glare in response. "Sebastian I swear to god if you don't get your ass over here I'll pry your mouth open myself."
Sebastian wanted to be stubborn, but he was genuinely terrified of his friend at the moment and figured now wasn't the best time to press his buttons, so he walked into the bathroom. "You're not going to touch it, right?"
"No Sebastian, I'm just going to look. I won't even touch your face. I don't have gloves so you're just going to pull your cheek back and let me look," he explained. "Can you do that for me, Sebastian?"
"No, never mind I can't do this. Hunter please don't make me it's fine," Sebastian said, trying to leave.
Hunter tiredly grabbed Sebastian by the wrist and easily kept him from leaving the bathroom. "Okay, Sebastian if this is going to work you have to be completely honest with me or I'm just going to assume that you're lying and we'll do this my way. Got it? Right now you're uselessly lying to me, your face is swollen, you can't exactly hide that. It's there a bump or pimple thing on the gum area where your tooth is? I know that sounds gross but this is important and I need to know."
Sebastian shook his head. "No, it has to be something else. I don't have that," he said quickly.
Hunter looked at Sebastian skeptically before taking his arm and pulling him back over to himself. "You have 3 seconds before I pry your mouth open. Tell me the truth, Sebastian. One... two... th-" Sebastian cut him off.
"Okay, okay! Don't do that please. Fine I do but please don't make me show you. This is embarrassing Hunter," Sebastian fretted.
Hunter seemed please with that answer, so he let go of Sebastian's arm. "Alright. I believe you, but I really do need to look. It's important that I see how bad it is. I genuinely don't give a shit about anything other than what I'm looking for. I'm trying to make you feel better about this, but ultimately it's either you show me willingly or I have to make you, and I really don't want to do that because I'm too damn tired to manhandle you again, and I'm not wearing gloves. I mean you have no idea how clean my hands are, do you really want me to have to stick my hand in your mouth?" Hunter saw that Sebastian wasn't making a run for it, but he wasn't complying yet either and he was getting tired of playing this game. "Dammit Sebastian, just come here and pull your cheek back for 5 seconds. That's literally all I'm asking if you."
Sebastian was trying to look super tough but he knew Hunter was going to pry his mouth open at any seconds, and he really didn't want to endure that but he was too embarrassed to let Hunter see. His mind was racing with thoughts and he effectively freaked himself out and fainted.
"Sebastian? Seb are you okay you look kind of- oh shit!" Hunter quickly caught Sebastian before he could hit his head on the floor by grabbing him from underneath the shoulders. He struggled under Sebastian's dead weight, but somehow managed to drag him back over to the sofa. "You better be glad I lift, otherwise you would have a concussion," Hunter spoke to the unconscious body that was currently his friend. He grabbed a wet rag and put it on his forehead because he was nice, but before that he used the same rag to pull back Sebastian's cheek and take a look at what he was hiding. He sighed, that wasn't pretty. He let his cheek go and folded the rag back up. Then gently placed the rag on Sebastian's forehead to make up for the fact he just invaded his his privacy. It didn't count now.
"Seeeebbbbaastain, wake uupppp. You're not dead, right? I really hope you're not dead. If you're dead that means I probably killed you and that's REALLY illegal so I need you to wake up," Hunter continued to the unconscious body. He got tired of waiting after 30 seconds so he filled a cup up with ice water and dumped it onto Sebastian's head. He wasn't actually sure if it would work but apparently it did because it definitely got a reaction out of Sebastian.
He screamed and sat up pretty quickly. "What the FUCK HUNTER!" Sebastian shouted.
"Ah, you're awake. Welcome back to the land of the living my friend. You fainted by the way, or you've just risen from the dead. I don't know, l'm not a real doctor."
Sebastian got up and brushed the ice cubes off of himself. "Clean it up you dick."
"Oh don't be dramatic. Water evaporates. It'll basically clean itself. Anyway, Sebastian you've got a very painful looking dental abscess that is going to require antibiotics for at least a week. Then the swelling will go down and we can get to the root of the problem," Hunter explained casually, resisting the urge to laugh at his unintentional pun.
"You looked while I was unconscious?" Sebastian fumed.
"Well do you really think I was going to pass up that opportunity?"
Sebastian rolled his eyes, sitting down on the dry side of the sofa. "So what, you give me drugs that make my face un-puff itself and then replace the dumbass filling that did this?"
Hunter thought about what he said next very carefully. "Well, you're not wrong, the filling did do this. That's why I hate amalgam, larger ones are more prone to fractures, which looks like what happened with yours. Then decay manifested in the area and made a nice little home out of your tooth and ate the absolute shit out of it." Hunter was proud of himself for not letting the part about how Sebastian was going to need a root canal to fix this, but then realized that he probably didn't word that in the best way.
Sebastian grew extremely embarrassed and turned red. "Ugh, dammit Hunter! That's why I didn't want you to see it!" he shouted in anger and embarrassment. The room was silent for a few seconds before Sebastian spoke. "Please just leave," he whispered.
For once Hunter was at a lose for words, so he just rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "I, uh... I mean I can stay here and we can talk if you want," he offered.
Sebastian shook his head. "Man, you've got a black eye. Go home, take care of yourself. Put some ice on that shit, you look like a guy who got his ass kicked."
Hunter could see that Sebastian wasn't acting like himself, his sassiness was lacking the usual spark behind it. He seemed really sad even though he was trying to cover it up. "Are you okay, Sebastian?"
Sebastian laughed bitterly, whatever allusion of calmness he was holding onto slipping away. The stress broke free and he started yelling again. "Do I look okay? My fucking face is falling apart, today I punched my best friend in the face, oh and you're going to drill holes into my tooth in a week. No I'm not fucking okay!"
"Sebastian, we can tal-" Hunter started to offer.
"Hunter, just go! I don't need you to stay here and feel sorry for me and my broken face. I don't want you here. I want to be alone," Sebastian snapped.
"Alright," Hunter said slowly. "I'll bring the antibiotics by for you later on along with something for the pain. Call me if you need anything." Hunter decided that the best thing he could do for Sebastian for right now was leave him alone. So he left.
A/N: More is coming soon! It's currently past 4AM and I desperately need sleep, but I promise the good stuff will happen next chapter. Sorry you guys didn't really get to see (read) dentist mode Hunter in this chapter but I swear it's coming. I think this story will be a little longer than I originally anticipated... Hm... Anyway, you guys can totally leave me a review because I stayed up late to get this up. But you know, to each their own. (Also did your brains explode because Megan and I updated back to back? Mahahahahah)